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THE WAR ROMANCE OF
THE SALVATION ARMY

BY

EVANGELINE BOOTH

AND

GRACE LIVINGSTON HELL

William Bramwell Booth
general of the salvation army

THE WAR ROMANCE OF
THE SALVATION ARMY

BY
EVANGELINE BOOTH

COKXAHDSa-ar-CBIEI', THE

8ALVATIOM ABMT IS AMSBICi

AND

GRACE LIVINGSTON HILL

AVTBOn OV "THE ENCHAHTED BABM"; "TM BEST ICAJ
"to MICHAEL"; THE BED SIQSAL," ETC.

PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY

OOPTBIOHT, 1919, BT J. B. LIPPINOOTT COUPAXt

JUN'k'6 |yi9

BUT UP AKD PaiMTBD IN UNITBD BTATIB

©CI.A529008

Evangeline Booth
commander-in-chief of the salvation army in america

FOREWORD

In presenting the narrative of some of the doings of
the Salvation Army during the world's great conflict for
liberty, I am but aiuswering the insistent call of a most
generous and appreciative public.

When moved to activity by the apparent need, there
was never a thought that our humble services would awaken
the widespread admiration that has developed. In fact,
we did not expect anything further than appreciative recog-
nition from those immediately benefited, and the knowledge
that our people have proved so useful is an abundant
compensation for all toil and sacrifice, for service is our
watchword, and there is no reward equal to that of doing
the most good to the most people in the most need. When
our National Armies were being gathered for overseas work,
the likelihood of a great need was self-evident, and the
most logical and most natural thing for the Salvation Army
to do was to hold itself in readiness for action. That we
were straitened in our circumstances is well understood,
more so by us than by anybody else. The story as told in
these pages is necessarily incomplete, for the obvious rea-
son that the work is yet in progress. We entered France
ahead of our Expeditionary Forces, ajid it is my purpose
to continue my people's ministries until the last of our
troops return. At the present moment the number of our
workers overseas equals that of any day yet experienced.
Because of the pressure that this service brings, to-

5

6 FOREWORD

gether with the unmentioned executive aires incident to
the vast work of the Salvation Army in these United States,
I felt compelled to requisition some competent person to
aid me in the literary work associated with the production
of a concrete story. In this I was mo6«t fortunate, for a
writer of established worth and national fame in the per-
son of Mrs. Grace Livingston Hill came to my assistance ;
and having for many days had the privilege of working
with her in the sifting process, gathering from the mass of
matter that had accumulated and which was being daily
added to, with every confidence I am able to commend her
patience and toil. How well she has done her work the
book wiU bear its own testimony.

This foreword would be incomplete were I to fail in
acknowledging in a very definite way the lavish expressions
of gratitude that have abounded on the part of "The
Boys'^ themselves. This is our reward, and is a very
great encouragement to us to continue a growing and
more permanent effort for their welfare, which is com-
prehended in our plans for the future.

The official support given has been of the highest and
most generous character. Marshal Foch himself most
kindly cabled me, and General Pershing has upon several
occasions inspired us with commendatory words of the
greatest worth.

Our beloved President has been pleased to reflect the
people's pleasure and his own personal gratification upon
what the Salvation Army has accomplished with the
troops, which good-will we shall ever regard as one of our
greatest honors.

The lavish eulogy and sincere affection bestowed by the

FOREWORD 7

nation upon the organization I can only account for by the
simple fact that our ministering members have been in
spirit and reality with the men.

True to our first light, first teaching, and first prac-
tices, we have always put ourselves close beside the man
irrespective of whether his condition is fair or foul;
whether his surroundings are peaceful or perilous ; whether
his prospects are promising or threatening. As a people
we have felt that to be of true service to others we must
be close enough to them to lift part of their load and thus
carry out that grand injunction of the Apostle Paul, " Bear
ye one another^s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.''

The Salvation Army upon the battlefields of France
has but worked along the same lines as in the great cities
of the nations. We are, with our every gift to serve, close
up to those in need; and so, as Lieut.-Colonel Eoosevelt
put it, " Whatever the lot of the men, the Salvation Army
is found with them."

We never permit any superiority of position, or breed-
ing, or even grace to make a gap between us and any who
may be less fortunate. To help another, you must be near
enough to catch the heart-beat. And so a large measure
of our success in the war is accounted for by the fact that
we have been with them. With a hundred thousand Sal-
vationists on all fronts, and tens and tens of thousands of
•Salvationists at their ministering posts in the homelands as
well as overseas, from the time that each of the Allied
countries entered the war the Salvation Army has been
with the fighting-men.

With them in the thatched cottage on the hillside, and
in the humble dwelling in the great towns of the home-^

8 FOREWORD

lands, when they faced the great ordeal of wishing good-bye
to mothers and fathers and wives and children.

With them in the blood-soaked furrows of old fields;
with them in the desolation of No Man's Land; and with
them amid the indescribable miseiies and gory horrors of
the battlefield. With them with the sweetest ministry,
trained in the art of service, white-souled, brave, tender-
hearted men and women conld render.

&3

Nationax Headquaeters
Salvation- Army,
New York City.

April, 1919.

FROM THE COMMANDER'S
OWN PEN

The war is over. The world's greatest tragedy is
arrested. The awful pull at men's heart-strings relaxed.
The inhuman monster that leapt out of the darkness and
laid blood-hands upon every home of a peace-blest earth has
boin overthrown. Autocracy and diabolical tyrajiny lie
defeated and crushed behind the long rows of white crosses
that stand like sign-posts pointing heavenward, all the way
from the English Channel to the Adriatic, linking the two
by an inseverable chain.

While the na/tions were in the throes of the conflict,
I was constrained to speak and write of the Salvation
Army's activities in the frightful struggle. Now that all
is over and I reflect upon the price the nations have paid
I realize much hesitancy in so doing.

When I think of England — ^where almost every man
you meet is but a piece of a man ! France — one great grave^
3^ard ! Its towns and cities a wilderness of waste ! The
allied countries — Italy, and deathless little Belgium, and
Serbia — well-nigh exterminated in the desperate, gory
struggle ! When I think upon it — ^the price America has
paid! The price her heroic sons have paid! They that
come down the gangways of the returning boats on crutches !
They that arc carried down on stretchers ! They that sail
into New York Harbor, young and fair, but never again
to see the Statue of Liberty ! The price that dear mothers
and fathers have paid ! The price that the tens of thou-

9

10 FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN

sands of little children bave paid ! The price they that sleep
in the lands they made free have paid ! When I think upon
all this, it is with no little reluctance that I now write of
the small part taken by the Salvation Army in the world's
titanic sacrifice for liberty, but which part we shall ever
regard as our life's crowning honor.

Expressions of surprise from officers of all ranks as well
as the private soldier have vied with those of gratitude
concerning the efficiency of this service, but no thought
of having accomplished any achievement higher than their
simplest duty is entertained by the Salvationists them-
selves; for uniformly they feel that they have but striven
to measure up to the high standards of service maintained
by the Salvation Army, which standards ask of its officers
all over the world that no effort shall be left unprosecuted,
no sacrifice unrendered, which will help to meet the need
at their door.

And it is such high standards of devoted service to our
fellow, linked with the practical nature of the movement's
operations, the deeply religious character of its members,
its intelligent system of government, uniting, and thus
augmenting, all its activities ; with the immense advantage
of the military training provided by the organiziation, that
give to its officers a potency and adaptability that have for
the greater period of our brief lifetime made us an influ-
ential factor in seasons of civic and national disaster.

When that beautiful city of the Golden Gate, San Fran-
cisco, was laid low by earthquake and fire, the Salvationists
were the first upon the ground with blankets, and clothes,
and food, gathering frightened little children, looking after
old age, and rescuing many from the burning and falling
buildings.

At the time of the wild rush to the Klondike, the Sal-

FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN 11

vation Army was, with its sweet, pure women — the only
women amidst tens of thousands of men — ^upon the moun-
tain-side of the Chilcoot Pass saving the lives of the gold-
seekers, and telling those shattered by disappointment of
treasure that ^^ doth not perish .''

At the time of the Jamestown, the Gralveston, and the
Dayton floods the Salvation Army officer, with his boat
laden with sandwiches and warm wraps, was the first upon
the rising waters, ministering to maxooned and starving
f aimilies gathered upon the housetops.

In the direful disaster that swept over the beautiful city
of Halifax, the Mayor of that city stated : " I do not know
what I should have done the first two or three days fol-
lowing the explosion, when everyone was panic-stricken,
without the ready, intelligent, and unbroken day-and-night
effonts of the Salvation Anny.'^

On numerous other similar occasions we have relieved
distress and sorrow by our almost instantaneous service.
Hence when our honored President decided that our Na-
tional Emblem, heralder of the inalienable rights of man,
should cross the seas and wave for the freedom of the
peoples of the earth, automatically the Salvation Army
moved with it, and our officers passed to the varying posts
of helpfulness which the emergency demanded.

Now on all sides I am confronted with the question:
What is the secret of the Salvation Army's success in
the war?

Permit me to suggest three reasons which, in my judg-
ment, account for it:

First, when the war-bolt fell, when the clarion call
sounded, it found the Salvation Army ready!

Eeady not only with our material machinery, but with
that precious piece of human mechanism which is indis-

12 FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN

pensable to all great and high achieyemenit — ^the right
calibre of man, and the right calibre of woman. Men and
womeai equipped by a careful training for the work they
would have to do.

We were not many in number, I admit. In France our
numbers have been regrettably few. But this is because I
have felt it was better to fall short in quantity than to run
the risk in falling shori; in quality. Quality is its own
multiplication table. Quality without quantity will spread,
whereas quantity without quality will shrink. Therefore,
I would not send any officers to France except such as had
been fuUy equipped in our training schools.

Few have even a remote idea of the extensive training
given to all Salvation Army officers by our military sys-
tem of education, covering all the tactics of that pari:icu-
lar warfare to which they have consecrated their lives — the
service of humanity.

We have in the Salvation Army thiriy-nine Training
Schools in which our own men and women, both for our mis-
sionary and home fields, receive an intelligent tuition and
practical training in the minutest details of their service.
They are trained in the finest and most intricate of all the
ariss, the art of dealing ably with human life.

It is a wonderful art which transfigures a sheet of
cold grey canvas into a throbbing vitality, and on its inan-
imate spread visualizes a living picture froan which one
feels they can never turn their eyes away.

It is a wonderful art which takes a rugged, knotted
block of marble, standing upon a coarse wooden bench,
and cuts out of its uncomely crudeness — as I saw it done —
the face of my father, with its every feature illumined with
prophetic light, so true to life that I felt that to my touch
it surely must respond.

FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN 13

But even such arte as these cruimble; they are as dust
imder our feet compared with that much greater art, the
art of dealing ably with human life in all its varying cotv-
ditions and phases.

It is in this art that we seek by a most careful culture
and training to perfect our officers.

They are trained in those expert measures which enable
them to handle satisfactorily those that cannot handle
themselves, those that have lost their grip on things, and
that if unaided go down under the high, rough tides.

Trained to meet emergencies of every character — to
leap into the breach, to span the gulf, and to do it without
waiting to be told how.

Trained to press at every cost for the desired and
decided-upon end.

Trained to obey orders willingly, and gladly, and wholly
— ^not in part.

Trained to give no quarter to the enemy, no jnaiter
what the character, nor in what form he may present
himself, and to never consider what personal advantage may
be derived.

Trained in the art of the winsome, attractive coquetries
of the round, brown doughnut and all its kindred.

Trained, if needs be, to seal their services with their
life's blood.

One of our women officers, on being told by the colonel
of the regiment she would be killed if she persisted in
serving her doughnuts and cocoa to the men while under
heavy fire, and that she must get back to safety, replied :
" Colonel, we can die with the men, but we cannot leave
them.''

When, therefore, I gathered the little companies to-
gether for their last charge before they sailed for France,

14 FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN

I would tell them that while I was unable to arm them
with many of the advantages of the more wealthy denomi-
nations; that while I could give them only a very few
assistants owing to the great demand upon our forces;
and that while I could promise them nothing beyond their
bare expenses, yet I knew that without fear I could rely
upon them for an unsurpassed devotion to the God-inspired
standards of the emblem of this, the world's greatest Re-
public, the Stars and Stripes, now in the van for the free-
dom of the peoples of the earth. That I could rely upon
them for unsurpassed devotion to the brave men who laid
their lives upon the altar of their country's protection, and
that I could rely upon them for an imsurpassed devotion
to that other banner, the Banner of Calvary, the signifi-
cance of which has not changed in nineteen centuries, and
by the standards of which, alone, all the world's wrongs
can be redressed, and by the standards of which alone men
can be liberated from all their bondage. And they have
not failed.

A further reason for the success of the Salvation Army
in the war is, it found us accustomed to hardship.

We are a people who have thrived on adversity. Oppo-
sition, persecution, privation, abuse, hunger, cold and
wanit were with us at the starting-post, and have journeyed
with us all along the course.

We went to the battlefields no strangers to suffering.
The biting cold winds that swept the fields of Flanders werfe
not the first to lash our faces. The sunless cellars, with
their mouldy walls and water-seeped floors, where our
women sought refuge from shell-fire through the hours of
the night, contributed no new or untried experience. In
such cellars as these, in their home cities, under the flicker
of a tallow candle, they have ministered to the sick and
comforted the dying.

FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN 16

Wet feet, lack of sleep, being often without food, find-
ing things different from what we had plajmed, hoped and
expected, were frequent experiences with us. All such
things we Salvationists encounter in our daily toils for
others amid the indescribable miseries and inestimable sor-
rows, the sins and the tragedies of the underworlds of our
great cities — ^the underneath of those great cities which
upon the surface thunder with enterprise and glitter with
brilliance.

We are not easily affrighted by frowns of fortune. We
do not change our course because of contrary currents, nor
put into harbor because of head-winds. Almost all our
progress has been made in the teeth of the storm. We have
always had to "tack,'^ but as it is *^the set of the sails,
and not the gales ^' that decides the ports we reach, the
competency of our seamanship is determined by the fact
that we " get there.^'

Our service in France was not, therefore, an experiment,
but an organized, tested, and proved system. We were
enacting no new role. We were all through the Boer Wat.
Our officers were with the besieged troops in Mafeking and
Ijadysmith. They were with Lord Kitchener in his vic-
torious march through Africa. It was this grand soldier
who afterwards wrote to my father. General Williatoi Booth,
the Founder of our movement, saying: "Your men have
given us an example both of how to live as good soldiers
and how to die as heroes/' And so it was quite natural that
our men and women, with that fearlessness which charac-
terizes our members, should take up positions under fire
in Fraaice.

In fact, our officers would have considered themselves
unfaithful to Salvation Army traditions and history, and
imtrue to those who had gone before, if they had deserted

16 FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN

any post, or shirked any duty, because cloaked with the
shadows of death.

This explains why their dear forms loomed up in the
fog and the rain, in the hours of the night, on the roads,
under shell fire, serving coffee and doughnuts.

This is how it was they were with tliem on the long
dreary marches, with a smile and a song and a word of
cheer.

This is how it is the Salvation Army has no " closing
hours." " Taps " sound for us when the need is relieved.

Three of our women officers in the Toul Sector had
slept for three weeks in a hay-stack, in an open field, to
be near the men of an ammunition train taking supplies to
the front under cover of darkness. The boys had watched
their continued, devoted service for them. — ^the many nights
without sleep — and noticing the shabby uniform of the
little officer in charge, collected among themselves 1600
francs, and ofl^ered it to her for a new one, and some other
comforts, the spokesman saying : " This is just to show
you how grateful we are to you." The officer was deeply
touched, but told them she could not think of accepting
it for herself. " I am quite accustomed to hard toils," she
eaid. " I have only done what ail my comrades are doing —
my duty," and oifered to compromise by putting the money
into a general fund for the benefit of all — ^to buy more
doughnuts and more coffee for the boys.

Salvation Army teaching and practice is: Choose your
purpose, then set your face as flint toward that purpose,
permitting no enemy that can oppose, and no sacrifice that
can be asked, to turn you from it.

Again, a reason for our success in the war is, our prac-
tical religion.

That is, our religion is practicable. Or, I would rather

FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN 17

say, OUT Christianity is practicable. Few realize this as
the secret of our success, and some who do realize it will
not admit it, but this is what it really is.

We do worship; both in spirit and form, in public amd
in private. We rely upon prayer as the only line of com-
munication between the creature and his Creator, the only
wing upon which the soul's requirements and hungerings
can be wafted to the Fount of all spiritual supply. Through
our street, as well as our indoor meetings, perhaps oftener
than any other people, we come to the masses with the
divine benediction of prayer; and it would be difficult to
find the Salvationist's home that does not regard the fam-
ily altar as its most precious and priceless treasure.

We do preach. We prea^ch God the Creator of earth
and heaven, unerring in His wisdom, infinite in His love
and omnipotent in His power. We preach Jesus Christ,
God's only begotten Son, dying on Calvary for a world's
transgressions, able to save to the uttermost " all those who
come unto God by Him." We preach God the Holy Ghost,
sanotifier and comforter of the souls of men, making white
the life, and kindling lights in every dark landing-place.
We preach the Bible, authentic in its statements, immacu-
late in its teaching, and glorious in its promises. We preach
grace, limitless grace, grace enough for all men, and grace
enough for each. We preach Hell, the irrevocable doom
of the soul that rejects the Saviour. We preach Heaven,
the home of the righteous, the reward of the good, the
crowning of them that endure to the end.

Even as we preach, so we practice Christianity. We re-
duce theory to action. We apply faith to deeds. We con-
fess and present Jesus Christ in things that can be done.

It i« this that has carried our flag into sixty^hree
countries and colonies, and despite the bitterest opposition
2

18 FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN

has given us the financial support of twenty-one national
governments. It is tliis that has brought us up from a
little handful of humble workers to aji organization with
21,000 officers and workers, preaching the gospel in thirty-
nine tongues. It is this that has multiplied the one bands-
man and a despised big drum to an army of 27,000 musi-
ciains, and it is this — our practice of religion — ^that has
placed Christ in deeds.

Arthur E. Copping gives as the reason for the move-
ment's success — ^''the simple, thorough-going, uncompro-
mising, seven-days-a-week character of its Christianity.''

It is this every-day-use religion which has made us of
infinite service in the places of toil, breakage, and suffering ;
this every-day-use religion which has made us the only
resource for thousands in misery and vice; this every-
day-use religion which has insured our success to an
extent that has induced civic authorities. Judges, Mayors,
Governors, and even I^ational Governments — such as India
with its Criminal Tribes — to turn to us with the problems
of the poor and the wicked.

While the Salvationist is not of the generally under-
stood ascetic or monastic type, yet his spirit and deeds are
of the very essence of saintliness.

As man has arrested the lazy cloud sleeping on the
brow of the hill, and has brought it down to enlighten our
darkness, to carry our mail-bags, to haul our luggage, and
to flash our messages, so, I would say with all reverence,
that the Salvation Army in a very particular way has again
brought down Jesus Christ from the high, high thrones,
golden pathways, and wing-spread angels of Glory, to the
common mud walks of earth, and has presented Him again
in the flesh to a storm-torn world, touching and healing the
wounds, the bruises, and the bleeding sores of hulmianity.

FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN 19

That was a wonderful sermon Christ preached on the
Mount, but was it more wonderful than the ministry of the
wounded man fallen by the roadside, or the drying of the
tears from the pale, worn face of the widow of Nain? Or
more wonderful than when He said, Let them come — ^let
them come — mothers and the little children — and blessed
them?

It has only been this same Christ, this Christ in deeds,
when our women have washed the blood from the faces
of the wounded, and taken the caked mud from their feet;
when under fire, through the hours of the night, they have
made the doughnuts; when instead of sleeping they have
written the letters home to soldiers' loved ones, when they
have lifted the heavy pails of water and struggled with
them over the shell-wrecked roads that the dying soldiers
might drink; when they have sevm the torn uniforms;
when they have strewn wdth the first spring flowers the
graves of those who died for liberty. Only Christ in deeds
when our men went unarmed into the horrors of the Ar-
gonne Forest to gather the dying boys in their arms and to
comfort them with love, human and divine.

That valiant champion of justice and truth ; that faith-
ful, able and brilliant defender of American standards,
the late Honorable Theodore Roosevelt, told me personally
a few days before he went into the hospital that his son
wrote him of how our officer, fifty-three years of age,
despite his orders, went unarmed over the top, in the whirl-
wind of the charge, amidst the shriek of shell and tear of
shrapnel, and picked up the American boy left for dead
in No Man's Land, carrying him on his back over the
shell-torn fields to safety.

It is this Christ in deeds that has made the doug-hnut
to take the place of the *^ ciap of cold water " given in His

«0 FROM THE COMIilANDER'S OWN PEN

name. It is this Christ in deeds that has brought from our
humble ranks the modem Florence Nightingales and taken
to the gory horrors of the battlefields the white, uplifting
influences of pure womanhood. It is this Christ in deeds
that made Sir Arthur Stanley say, when thanking our Gen-
ral for $10,000 donated for more ambulances: "I thank
you for the money, but much more for the men; they are
quite the best in our service.'^

It is this Christ who has given to our humblest service
a sheen — something of a glory — ^which the troops have
caught, and which will make these simple deeds to hold
tenaciously to history, and to outlive the effacing fingers
of time — even to defy the very dissolution of death.

As Premier Clemenceau said: ^^We must love. We
must believe. This is the secret of life. If we fail to learn
this lesson, we exist without living: we die in ignorance
of the reality of life."

A senator, after several months spent in France, stated :
"It is my opinion that the secret of the success of this
organization is their complete abandonment to their cause,
ihe service of the man/'

Of the many beautiful tributes paid to us by a most
gracious public, and by the noblest-hearted and most kindly
and gallant army that ever stood up in uniform, perhaps
the most correct is this: Complete abandonment to the
service of the man.

This, in large measure, is the cause of our sucscess all
over the world.

When you come to think of it, the Salvation Army is
a remarkable arrangement. It is remarkable in its con-
struction. It is a great empire. An empire geographically

FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN 21

•unlike any other. It is an empire without a frontier. It
is an empire made up of geographical fragments, parted
from each other by vast stretches of railroad and immense
sweeps of sea. It is an empire composed of a tangle of
races, tongues, and colors, of types of civilization and en-
lightened barbarism such as never before in all human his-
tory gathered together under one flag.

It is an army, with its titles rambling into all lan-
guages, a soldiery spreading over all lands, a banner upon
which the sun never goes down — with its head in the heart
of a cluster of islands set in the grey, wind-blown Northern
seas, while its territories are scattered over every sea and
under every sky.

The world has wondered what has been the controlling
force holding this strange empire together. What is the
electro-magnetism governing its furthest atom as though
it were at your elbow ? What is the magic sceptre that com-
pels this diversity of peoples to act as one man ? What is
the master passion uniting these multifarious pulsations
into one heart-beat?

Has it been a swom-to signature attached to bond or
paper? No; these can all too readily be designated
" scraps ^' and be rent in twain. Has it been self -interest
and worldly fame? No, for all selfish gain has had to be
sacrificed upon the threshold of the contract. Has it been
the bond of kinship, or blood, or speech? No, for under
this banner the British master has become the servant of
the Hindoo, and the American has gone to lay down his
life upon the veldts of Africa. Has it been the bond of
that almost supernatural force, glorious patriotism? No,
not even this, for while we " know no man after the flesh,"

22 FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN

we recognize our brother in all the families of the earth,
and our General infused into the breasts of his followers the
sacred conviction that the Salvationist's country is the
world.

What was it? What is it? Those ties created by a
spiritual ideal. Our love for God demonstrated by our
sacrifice for man.

My father, in a private audience with the late King
Edward, said : " Your Majesty, some men's passion is
gold; some men's passion is art; some men's passion is
fame ; my passion is man ! "

This was in our Founder's breast the white flame which
ignited like sparks in the hearts of all his followers.

Man is our life's passion.

It isi for man we have laid our lives upon the altar.
It is for man we have entered into a contract with our
6rod which signs away our claim to any and all selfish ends.
It is for man we have sworn to our own hurt, and — ^my
God thou knowest — when the hurt came, hard and hot and
fast, it was for man we held tenaciously to the bargain.

After the torpedoing of the Abouhir two sailors found
themselves clinging to a spar which was not sufficiently
buoyant to keep them both afloat. Harry, a Salvationist,
grasped the situation and said to his mate : " Tom, for me
to die will mean to go home to mother. I don't think it's
quite the same for you, so you hold to the spar and I will
go down; but promise me if you are picked up you will
make my God your God and my people your people." To5m
was rescued and told to a weeping audience in a Salvation
Army hall the act of self-sacrifice which had saved his life.

FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN 23

and testified to keeping his promise to the boy who had
died for him.

When the Empress of Ireland went down with a hun-
dred and thirty Salvation Army officers on board, one hun-
dred and nine officers were drowned, and not one body
that was picked up had on a life-belt. The few survivors
told how the Salvationists, finding there were not enough
life-preservers for all, took off their own belts and strapped
them upon even strong men, saying, ^' I can die better than
you can ; " and from the deck of that sinking boat they
flung their battle-cry around the world — Others!

Man! Sometimes I think God has given us special
eyesight with which to look upon him. We look through
the exterior, look through the shell, look through the coat,
and find the man. We look through the ofttimes repulsive
wrappings, through the dark, objectionable coating col-
leK?ted upon the downward travel of misspent years, through
the artificial veneer of empty seeming — through to the
man.

He that was made after God's image.

He that is greater than firmaments, greater than suns,
greater than worlds.

Man, for whom worlds were created, for whom Heavens
were canopied, for whom suns were set ablaze. He in whose
being there gleams that immortal spark we call the soul.

And when this war came, it was natural for us to look
to the man — the man under the shabby clothes, enlisting
in the great armies of freedom; the man going down the
street under the spick anl span uniform; the man behind
the gun, standing in the jaws of death hurling back world
autocracy; the man, the son of liberty, discharging his

U FROM THE COMlViANDER'S OWN PEN

obligations to them that are hound; the man, each one
of them, although so young, who when the fates of the
world swung in the balances proved to be the man of the
hour; the man, each one of them, fighting not only for to-
day but for to-morrow, and deciding the world's future;
the man who gladly died that freedom might not be dead ;
the man dear to a hundred million throbbing hearts; the
man God loved so much that to save him He gave His only
(Son to the unparalleled sacrifice of Calvary, with its mea^
ureless ocean of torment heaving up against His Heart in
one foaming, wrathful, onmipotent surge.

Wherein is price? What constitutes coet, when the
question is THE MAN?

PREFACE BY THE WRITER

I WISH I could give you a picture of Commander Evan-
geline Booth as I saw her first, who has been the Source,
the Inspiration, the Guide of this story.

I went to the first conference about this book in curi-
osity and some doubt, not knowing whether it was my work ;
not altogether sure whether I cared to attempt it. She took
my hand and spoke to me. I looked in her face and saw
the shining glory of her great spirit through those wonder-
ful, beautiful, wise, keen eyes, and all doubts vanished. I
studied the sincerity and beauty of her vivid face as we
talked together, and heard the thrilling tale she was giving
me to tell because she could not take the time from living it
to write it, and I trembled lest she would not find me worthy
for so great a task. I knew that I was being honored be-
yond women to have been selected as an instrument through
whom the great story of the Salvation Army in the War
might go forth to the world. That I wanted to do it more
than any work that had ever come to my hand, I was cer-
tain at once; and that my whole soul was enmeshed in the
wonder of it. It gripped me from the start. I was over-
joyed to find that we were in absolute sympathy from
the first.

One sentence from that earliest talk we had together
stands clear in my memory, and it has perhaps uncon-
sciously shaped the theme which I hope will be found
running through all the book:

"Our people,'^ said she, flinging out her hands in a
lovely embracing movement, as if she saw before her at that

25

26 PREFACE BY THE WRITER

moment those devoted workers of hers who follow where
she leads unquestioningly, and stay not for fire or foe, or
weariness, or peril of any sort :

"Our people know that Christ is a living presence, that
they can reach out and feel He is near : that is why they
can live so splendidly and die so heroically ! ''

As she spoke a light shone in her face that reminded
me of the light that we read was on Moses' face after he
had spent those days in the mountain with God ; and some-
where back in my soul something was repeating the words :
"And they took knowledge of them that they had been
with Jesus."

That seems to me to be the whole secret of the wonder-
ful lives and wonderful work of the Salvation Army. They
have become acquainted with Jesus Christ, whom to know
is life eternal ; they feel His presence constantly with them
and they live their lives " as seeing Him who is invisible."
They are a living miracle for the confounding of all who
doubt that there is a God whom mortals may know face to
face while they are yet upon the earth.

The one thing that these people seem to feel is really
worth while is bringing other people to know their
Christ. All other things in life are merely subservient to
this, or tributary to it. All their education, culture and
refinement, their amazing organization, their rare business
ability, are just so many tools that they use for the uplift
of others. In fact, the word " OTHERS " appears here
and there, printed on small white cards and tacked up over
a desk, or in a hallway near the elevator, anywhere, every-
where all over the great building of the New York Head-
quarters, a quiet, unobtrusive, yet startling reminder of a
world of real things in the midst of the busy rush of life.

Yet they do not obtrude their religion. Eather it is a

PREFACE BY THE WRITER 27

secret joy that shines imaware through their eyes, and
seems! to flood their whole being with happiness so that
others can but see. It is there, ready, when the time comes
to give comfort, or advice, or to tell the message of the
gospel in clear ringing sentences in one of their meetings ;
but it speaks as well through a smile, or a ripple of song, or
a bright funny story, or something good to eat when one is
hungry, as it does through actual preaching. It is the liv-
ing Christ, as if He were on earth again living in them.
And when one comes to know them well one knows that
He is!

'^ Go straight for the salvation of souls : never rest
satisfied unless this end is achieved ! '^ is part of the com-
mission that the Commander gives to her envoys. It is
worth while stopping to think what would be the effect
on the world if every one who has named the name of Christ
should accept that commission and go forth to fulfill it.

And you who have been accustomed to drop your pen-
nies in the tambourine of the Salvation Army lassies at the
street corners, and look upon her as a representative of a
lower class who are doing good " in their way,'' prepare to
realize that you have made a mistake. The Salvation
Army is not an organization composed of a lot of ignorant,
illiterate, reformed criminals picked out of the slums. There
may be among them many of that class who by the army's
efforts have been saved from a life of sin and shame, and
lifted up to be useful citizens ; but great numbers of them,
the leaders and officers, are refined, educated men and
women who have put Christ and His Kingdom first in their
hearts and lives. Their young people will compare in every
way with the best of the young people of any of our religious
denominations.

After the privilege of close association with them for

28 PREFACE BY THE WRITER

some time I have come to feel that the most noticeable and
lovely thing about the girls is the way they wear their
womanhood, as if it were a flower, or a rare jewel. One of
these girls, who, by the way, had been nine months in
France, all of it under shell fire, said to me :

" I used to wish I had been born a boy, they are not
hampered so much as women are; but after I went to
France and saw what a good woman meant to those boys
in the trenches I changed my mind, and I'm glad I was
born a woman. It means a great deal to be a woman."

And so there is no coquetry about these girls, no little
personal vanity such as girls who are thinking of them-
selves often have. They take great care to be neat and
sweet and serviceable, but as they are not thinking of them-
selves, but only how they may serve, they are blest with that
loveliest of all adorning, a meek and quiet spirit and a
joy of living and content that only forge tfulness of self
and communion with Jesus Christ can bring.

I feel as if I would like to thank every one of them, men
and women and young girls, who have so kindly and gen-
erously and wholeheartedly given me of their time and
experiences and put at my disposal their correspondence
to enrich this story, and have helped me to go over the
ground of the great American drives in the war and see
what they saw, hear what they heard, and feel as they felt.
It has been one of the greatest experiences of my life.

And she, their God-given leader, that wonderful woman
whose wise hand guides every detail of this marvellous
organization in America, and whose well furnished mind is
ever thinking out new ways to serve her Master, Christ;
what shall I say of her whom I have come to know and love
80 well?

Her exceptional ability as a public speaker is of the

PREFACE BY THE WRITER 29

widest fame, while comparatively few, beyond those of her
most trusted Officers, are brought into admiring touch with
her brilliant executive powers. All these, however, unite
in most unstinted praise and declare that functioning in
this sphere, the Commander even excels her platform
triumphs. But one must know her well and watch her
every day to understand her depth of insight into charac-
ter, her wideness of vision, her skill of making adverse
circumstances serve her ends. Born with an innate genius
for leadership, swallowed up in her work, wholly consecrated
to God and His service, she looks upon men, as it were, with
the eyes of the God she loves, and sees the best in everybody.
She sees their faults also, but she sees the good, and is able
to take that good and put it to account, while helping
them out of their faults. Those whom she has so helped
would kiss the hem of her garment as she passes. It is
easy to see why she is a leader of men. It is easy to see
who has made the Army here in America. It is easy to
see who has inspired the brave men and wonderful women
who went to France and labored.

' She would not have me say these things of her, for she
is humble, as such a great leader should be, knowing
all her gifts and attainments to be but the glory of her
Lord; and this is her book. Only in this chapter can I
^eak and say what I will, for it is not my book. But here,
too, I waive my privilege and bow to my Commander.

t^^^^i^Cnu

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. The Story 35

II. The Gondrecourt Area 48

m. The Toul Sector 129

TV- The MoNTomiER Sector 147

V. The Toul Sector Again 178

VI. The Baccarat Sector 186

VII. The Chateau-Thierry-Soissons Drive 199

VIII. The Saint Mihiel Drive 217

EX. The Argonne Drive 242

X. The Armistice 260

XI. Homecoming 264

Xn. Letters op Appreciation 287

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGK
General Bramwell Booth Frontispiece

Commander Evangeline Booth 4

Lieutenant Colonel William S. Barker. 48

Introduced to French Rain and French Mud 49

She Called the Little Company of Workers Together and Gave
Them a Charge 54

The Lasae Who Fried the First Doughnut in France 55

'Tin Hat for a Halo! Ah! She Wears It Well !'^ 80

The Patient Officers Who Were Seeing to All These Details

Worked Almost Day and Night 81

Here During the Day They Worked in Dugouts Far Below the

Shell-tortured Earth 112

They Came To Get Their Coats Mended and Their Buttons

Sewed On 113

The Entrance to the Old Wine Cellar in Mandres 142

The Salvation Army Was Told that Ansauville Was Too Far

Front for Any Women To Be Allowed To Go 143

L'Hermitage, Nestled in the Heart of a Deep Woods 146

L'Hermitage, Inside the Tent 147

"Ma" 168

They Had a Pie-baking Contest in Gondrecourt One Day 169

A Letter of Inspiration from the Conmiander 174

The Salvation Army Boy Truck Driver 175

The Centuries-old Gray Cemetery in Treveray 180

Colonel Barker Placing the Commander's Flowers on Lieutenant

Quentin Roosevelt's Grave ^. 181

3 " 33 "

34 ILLUSTRATIONS

The Salvation Army Boy Who Drove the Famous Doughnut

Truck 228

BuUionville, Promptly Dubbed by the American Boy "Soup-
town" 229

Here They Found a Whole Little Village of German Dugouts. . 242

The Girls Who Came Down to Help in the St. Mihiel Drive. . 243

The Wrecked House in Neuvilly Where the Lassies Went to

Sleep in the Cellar 246

The Wrecked Church in Neuvilly Where the Memorable Meet-
ing Was Held 247

Right in the Midst of the Busy Hurrying Throng of Union

Square 270

"Smiling Billy" 271

Thomas Estill 284

The Hut at Camp Lewis 285

THE WAR ROMANCE OF
THE SALVATION ARMY

I.

THE STOET.

Into the heavy shadows that swathe the feet of the tall
buildings in West Fourteenth Street, New York, late in
the evening there slipped a dark form. It was so carefully
wrapped in a black cloak that it was difficult to tell among
the other shadows whether it was man or woman, and imme-
diately it became a part of the darkness that hovered close
to the entrances along the way. It slid almost imper-
ceptibly from shadow to shadow until it crouched flatly
against the wall by the steps of an open door out of which
streamed a wide band of light that flung itself across the
pavement.

Down the street came two girls in poke bonnets and
hurried in at the open door. The figure drew back and
was motionless as they passed, then with a swift furtive
glance in either direction a head came cautiously out from
the shadow and darted a look after the two lassies, watched
till they were out of sight, and a form slid into the door-
way, winding about the turning like a serpent, as if the
way were well planned, and slipped out of sight in a dark
corner under the stairway.

Half an hour or perhaps an hour passed, and one or two
hurrying forms came in at the door and sped up the stairs
from some errand of mercy ; then the night watchman came
and fastened the door and went away again, out somewhere
tiirough a back room.

35

36 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

The interloper was instantly on the alert, darting out
of its hiding place, and slipping noiselessly up the stairs
as quietly as the shadow it imitated ; pausing to listen with
anxious mien, stepping as a cloud might have stepped with
no creak of stairway or sound of going at all.

Up, up, up and up again, it darted, till it came to the
very top, pausing to look sharply at a gleam of light under
a door of some student not yet asleep.

From under the dark cloak slid a hand with something
in it. Silently it worked, swiftly, pouring a few drops here,
a few drops there, of some colorless, odorless matter, smear-
ing a spot on the stair railing, another across from it on
the wall, a little on the floor beyond, a touch on the window
seat at the end of the hall, some more on down the stairs.

On rubbered feet the fiend crept down; halting, listen-
ing, ever working rapidly, from floor to floor and back to
the entrance way again. At last with a cautious glance
around, a pause to rub a match skilfully over the woolen
cloak, and to light a fuse in a hidden corner, he vanished
out upon the street like the passing of a wraith, and was
gone in the darkness.

Down in the dark corner the little spark brooded and
smouldered. The watchman passed that way but it gave no
sign. All was still in the great building, as the smoulder-
ing spark crept on and on over its little thread of existence
to the climax.

But suddenly, it sprang to life ! A flame leaped up like
a great tongue licking its lips before the feast it was about
to devour; and then it sprang as if it were human, to an-
other spot not far away ; and then to another, and on, and
on up the stair rail, across to the wall, leaping, roaring,
almost shouting as if in fiendish glee. It flew to the top
of the house and down again in a leap and the whole build-
ing was enveloped ia a sheet of flame !

THE SALVATION ARMY 37

Some one gave the cry of FIRE ! The night watchman
darted to his box and sent in the alarm. Frightened girls
in night attire crowded to their doors and gasping feU
back for an instant in horror; then bravely obedient to
their training dashed forth into the flame. Young men on
other floors without a thought for themselves dropped into
order automatically and worked like madmen to save every-
one. The fire engines throbbed up almost immediately, but
the building was doomed from the start and went like
tinder. Only the fire drill in which they had constant
almost daily practice saved those brave girls and boys from
an awful death. Out upon the fire escapes in the bitter
winter wind the girls crept down to safety, and one by one
the young men followed. The young man who was fire
sergeant counted his men and found them all present but
one cadet. He darted back to find him, and that moment
with a last roar of triumph the flames gave a final leap
and the building collapsed, burying in a fiery grave two fine
young heroes.

Afterward they said the building had been " smeared "
or it never could have gone in a breath as it did. The
miracle was that no more lives were lost.

So that was how the burning of the Salvation Army
Training School occurred.

The significant fact in the affair was that there had
been sleeping in that building directly over the place where
the fire started several of the lassies who were to sail for
France in a day or two with the largest party of war
workers that had yet been sent out. Their trunks were
packed, and they were all ready to go. The object was all
too evident.

There was also proof that the intention had been to
destroy as well the great fireproof Salvation Army National
Headquarters building adjoining the Training School.

38 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

A few days later a detective taking lunch in a small
German restaurant on a side street overheard a conversation :

"Well, if we can't burn them out we'll blow up the
building, and get that damn Commander, anyhow ! ''

Yet when this was told her the Commander declined
the bodyguard offered her by the Civic Authorities, to go
with her even to her country home and protect her while
the war lasted I She is naturally a soldier.

The Commander had stayed late at the Headquarters
one evening to finish some important bit of work, and had
given orders that she should not be interrupted. The great
building was almost empty save for the night watchman,
the elevator man, and one or two others.

She was hard at work when her secretary appeared with
an air of reluctance to tell her that the elevator man said
there were three ladies waiting downstairs to see her on
some very important business. He had told them that she
could not be disturbed but they insisted that they must
see her, that she would wish it if she knew their business.
He had come up to find out what he should answer them.

The Commander said she knew nothing about them and
could not be interrupted now. They must be told to come
again the next day.

The elevator man returned in a few minutes to say that
the ladies insisted, and said they had a great gift for the
Salvation Army, but must see the Commander at once and
alone or the gift would be lost.

Quickly interested the Commander gave orders that
they should be brought up to her oflBce, but just as they
were about to enter, the secretary came in again with great
excitement, begging that she would not see the visitors, as
one of the men from downstairs had 'phoned up to her that
he did not like the appearance of the strangers; they

THE SALVATION AKMY 39

seemed to be trying to talk in high strained voices, and they
had very large feet. Maybe they were not women at all.

The Commander laughed at the idea, but finally yielded
when another of her staff entered and begged her not to
see strangers alone so late at night; and the callers were
informed that they would have to return in the morning if
they wished an interview.

Immediately they became anything but ladylike in their
manner, declaring that the Salvation Army did not deserve
a gift and should have nothing from them. The elevator
man^s suspicions were aroused. The ladies were attired in
long automobile cloaks, and close caps with large veils, and
he studied them carefully as he carried them down to the
street floor once more, following them to the outer door.
He was surprised to find that no automobile awaited them
outside. As they turned to walk down the street, he was
sure he caught a glimpse of a trouser leg from beneath one
of the long cloaks, and with a stride he covered the space
between the door and his elevator where was a telephone,
and called up the police station. In a few moments more
the three "ladies^' found themselves in custody, and
proved to be three men well armed.

But when the Commander was told the truth about
them she surprisingly said : ^^ I'm sorry I didn't see them.
I'm sure they would have done me no harm and I might
have done them some good."

But if she is courageous, she is also wise as a serpent,
and knows when to keep her own counsel.

During the early days of the war when there were
many important matters to be decided and the Commander
was needed everjrwhere, she came straight from a confer-
ence in Washington to a large hotel in one of the great
western cities where she had an appointment to speak that

40 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

night. At the revolving door of the hotel stood a portly
servitor in house uniform who was most kind and notice-
ably attentive to her whenever she entered or went out, and
was constantly giving her some pointed little attention to
draw her notice. Finally, she stopped for a moiment to
thank him, and he immediately became most flattering,
telling her he knew all about the Salvation Army, that he
had a brother in its ranks, was deeply interested in their
work in France, and most proud of what they were doing.
He told her he had lived in Washington and said he sup-
posed she often went there. She replied pleasantly that
'she had but just come from there, but some keen intuition
besran to warn this wise-hearted woman and when the next
question, though spoken most casually, was: "Where are
the Salvation Army workers now in France ? '' she replied
evasively :

" Oh, wherever they are most needed,'* and passed on
with a friend.

'^ I believe that man is a spy ! " she said to her friend
with conviction in her voice.

" Nonsense ! '' the friend replied ; " you are growing
nervous. That man has been in this hotel for several
years.^'

But that very night the man, with five others, was
arrested, and proved to be a spy hunting information about
the location of the American troops in France.

Now these incidents do not belong in just this spot in
the book, but they are placed here of intention that the
reader may have a certain viewpoint from which to take the
story. For well does the world of evil realize what a strong
force of opponents to their dark deeds is found in this

THE SALVATION ARMY 41

great Christian organization. Sometimes one is able the
better to judge a man, his character and strength, when
one knows who are his enemies.

It was the beginning of the dark days of 1917.

The Commander sat in her quiet office, that office
through which, except on occasions like this when she
locked the doors for a few minutes' special work, there
marched an unbroken procession of men and affairs, affect-
ing both souls and nations.

Before her on the broad desk lay the notes of a new
address which she was preparing to deliver that evening,
but her eyes were looking out of the wide window, across the
clustering roofs of the great city to the white horizon line,
and afar over the great water to the terrible scene of the
Strife of Nations.

For a long time her thoughts had been turning that
way, for she had many beloved comrades in that fight, both
warring and ministering to the fighters, and she had
often longed to go herself, had not her work held her here.
But now at last the call had come ! America had entered
the great war, and in a few days her sons would be march-
ing from all over the land and embarking for over the seas
to fling their young lives into the inferno; and behind
them would stalk, as always in the wake of War, Pain and
Sorrow and Sin! Especially Sin. She shuddered as she
thought of it all. The many subtle temptations to one
who is lonely and in a foreign land.

Her eyes left the far horizon and hovered over the
huddling roofs that represented so many hundreds of thou-
sands of homes. So many mothers to give up their sons ;
so many wives to be bereft; so many men and boys to be

42 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

sent forth to suffer and be tried; so many hearts already
overburdened to be bowed beneath a heavier load ! Oh, her
people! Her beloved people, whose sorrows and burdens
and sins she bore in her heart and carried to the feet of the
Master every day ! And now this war !

And those young men, hardly more than children, some
of them I With her quick insight and deep knowledge of
the world, she visualized the way of fire down which they
must walk, and her soul was stricken with the thought of
it ! It was her work and the work of her chosen Army to
help and save, but what could she do in such a momentous
crisis as this ? She had no money for new work. Oppor-
tunities had opened up so fast. The Treasury was already
overtaxed with the needs on this side of the water. There
were enterprises started that could not be given up with-
out losing precious souls who were on the way toward be-
coming redeemed men and women, fit citizens of this world
and the next. There was no surplus, ever! The multi-
farious efforts to meet the needs of the poorest of the cities'
poor, alone, kept everyone on the strain. There seemed no
possibility of doing more. Besides, how could they spare
the workers to meet the new demand without taking them
from places where they were greatly needed at home?

And other perplexities darkened the way. There were
those sitting in high places of authority who had strongly
advised the Salvation Army to remain at home and go on
with their street meetings, telling them that the battlefield
was no place for them, they would only be in the way. They
were not adapted to a thing like war. But well she knew the
capacity of the Salvation Army to adapt itself to whatever
need or circumstance presented. The same standard they
had borne into the most wretched places of earth in times
of peace would do in times of war.

THE SALVATION ARMY' 43

Out there across the waters the Salvation Brothers and
Sisters were ministering to the British armies at the front,
and now that the American army was going, too, duty
seemed very clear; the call was most imperative !

The written pages on her desk loudly demanded atten-
tion and the Commander tried to bring her thoughts back
to them once more, but again and again the call sounded in
her heart.

She lifted her eyes to the wall across the room from
her desk where hung the life-like portrait of her Christian-
Warrior father, the grand old keen-eyed, wise-hearted
General, founder of the movement. Like her father she
knew they must go. There was no question about it. No
hindrance should stop them. They MUST GO! The
warrior blood ran in her veins. In this the world's greatest
calamity they must fulfiU the mission for which he lived
and died.

" Go ! '' Those pictured eyes seemed to speak to her,
just as they used to command her when he was here:
" You must go and bear the standard of the Cross to the
front. Those boys are going over there, many of them to
die, and some are telling them that if they make the
supreme sacrifice in this their country's hour of need it
will be all right with them when they go into the world
beyond. But when they get over there under shell fire they
wiU know that it is not so, and they will need Christ, the
only atonement for sin. You must go and take the Christ
to them."

Then the Commander bowed her head, accepting the
comimission; and there in the quiet room perhaps the
Master Himself stood beside her and gave her his charge —

44 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

just as she would later charge those whom she would send
across the water — telling her that He was depending upon
the Salvation Army to bear His standard to the war.

Perhaps it was at this same high conference with her
Lord that she settled it in her heart that Lieutenant-
Colonel William S. Barker was to be the pioneer to blaze
the way for the work in France.

However that may be he wias an out-and-out Salvation-
ist, of long and varied experience. He was chosen equally
for his proved consecration to service, for his unselfishness,
for his exceptional and remarkable natural courage by
which he was afraid of nothing, and for his unwavering
persistence in plans once made in spite of all difficulties.
The Commander once said of him : *' If you want to see
him at his best you must put him face to face with a stone
wall and tell him he must get on the other side of it. No
matter what the cost or toil, whether hated or loved, he
would get there !"

Thus carefully, prayerfully, were each one of the other
workers selected ; each new selection born from the struggle
of her soul in prayer to God that there might be no mis-
takes, no unwise choices, no messengers sent forth who
went for their own ends and not for the glory of God.
Here lies the secret which makes the world wonder to-day
why the Salvation Army workers are called "the real thing "
by the soldiers. They were hand-picked by their leader on
the mount, face to face with God.

She took no casual comer, even with offers of money to
back them, and there were some of immense wealth who
pleaded to be of the little band. She sent only those whom
she knew and had tried. Many of them had been bom and
reared in the Salvation Army, with Christlike fathers and

THE SALVATION ARMY 45

mothers who had made their homes a little piece of heaven
below. All of them were consecrated, and none went with-
out the urgent answering call in their own hearts.

It was early in June, 1917, when Colonel Barker sailed
to France with his commission to look the field over and
report upon any and every opportunity for the Salvation
Army to serve the American troops.

In order to pave his way before reaching France, Colonel
Barker secured a letter of introduction from Secretary-to-
the-President Tumulty, to the American Ambassador in
France, Honorable William G. Sharp.

In connection with this letter a curious and interesting
incident occurred. When Colonel Barker entered the Sec-
retary's office, he noticed him sitting at the other end of the
room talking with a gentleman. He was about to take a
seat near the door when Mr. Timiulty beckoned to him to
come to the desk. When he was seated, without looking
directly at the other gentleman, the Colonel began to state
his mission to Mr. Tumulty. Before he had finished the
stranger spoke up to Mr. Tumulty : " Give the Colonel what
he wants and make it a good one ! " And lo ! he was not a
stranger, but a man whose reform had made no small sen-
sation in New York circles several years before, a former
attorney who through his wicked life had been despaired of
and forsaken by his wealthy relatives, who had sunk to the
lowest depths of sin and poverty and been rescued by the
Salvation Army.

Continuing to Mr. Tumulty, he said : " You know what
the Salvation Army has done for me ; now do what you can
for the Salvation Army.'^

Mr. Tumulty gave him a most kind letter of introduc-
tion to the American Ambassador.

On his arrival in Liverpool Colonel Barker availed him-

46 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

self of the opportunity to see the very splendid work being
done by the Salvation Army with the British troops, both
in France and in England, visiting many Salvation Army
huts and hostels. He also put the Commander's plans for
France before General Bramwell Booth in London.

As early as possible Colonel Barker presented his letter
of introduction to the American Ambassador, who in turn
provided him with a letter of introduction to General Per-
shing which insured a cordial reception by him. Mr.
Sharp informed Colonel Barker that he understood the
policy of the American army was to grant a monopoly of
all welfare work to the Y. M. C. A. He feared the Salva-
tion Army would not be welcome, but assured him that
anything he could properly do to assist the Salvation Army
would be most gladly done. In this connection he stated
that he had known of and been interested in the work of
the Salvation Army for many years, that several men of
his acquaintance had been converted through their activi-
ties and been reformed from dissolute, worthless characters
to kind husbands and fathers and good business men;
and that he believed in the Salvation Army work as a
consequence.

On many occasions during the subsequent months, Mr.
Sharp was never too busy to see the Salvation Army rep-
resentatives, and has rendered valuable assistance in facili-
tating the forwarding of additional workers by his influence
with the State Department.

It appeared that among military officers a kind feeling
existed toward the Salvation Army, though it was generally
thought that there was no opening for their service. Their
conception of the Salvation Army was that of street corner
meetings and public charity. The officers at that time
could not see that the soldiers needed charity or that they

THE SALVATION ARMY 47

would be interested in religion. They could see how a
reading-room, gaine-room and entertainments might be
helpful, but anything further than that they did not con-
sider necessary.

Colonel Barker presented his letter of introduction to
General Pershing, and on behalf of Commander Booth
offered the services of the Salvation Army in any form
which might be desired.

General Pershing, who received the Colonel with excep-
tional cordiality, suggested that he go out to the camps,
look the field over, and report to him. Calling in his chief
of staff he gave instructions that a side car should be placed
at Colonel Barker's disposal to go out to the camps; and
also that a letter of introduction to the General command-
ing the First Division should be given to him, asking that
everything should be done to help him.

The first destination was Gondrecourt, where the First
Division Headquarters was established.

II.

THE GONDEECOURT AKEA.

The advance guard of the American Expeditionary
Forces had landed in France, and other detachments were
arriving almost daily. They were received by the French
with open arms and a big parade as soon as they landed.
Flowers were tossed in their path and garlands were
flung about them. They were lauded and praised on every
hand. On the crest of this wave of enthusiasm they could
have swept joyously into battle and never lost their smiles.

But instead of going to the front at once they were
billeted in little French villages and introduced to French
rain and French mud.

When one discovers that the houses are built of stone,
stuck together mainly by this mud of the country, and
remembers how many years they have stood, one gets a
passing idea of the nature of this mud about which the
soldiers have written home so often. It is more like Port-
land cement than anything else, and it is most penetrative
and hard to get rid of ; it gets in the hair, down the neck,
into the shoes and it sticks. If the soldier wears hip-boots
in the trenches he must take them off every little while aad
empty the mud out of them which somehow manages to
get into even hip-boots. It is said that one reason the
soldiers were obliged to wear the wrapped leggings was,
not that they would keep the water out, but that they would
strain the mud and at least keep the feet comparatively
clean.
48

THE SALVATION ARMY 49

There were sixteen of these camps at this time and
probably twelve or thirteen thousand soldiers were already
established in them.

There was no great cantonment as at the camps on this
side of the water, nor yet a city of tents, as one might
have expected. The forming of a camp meant the taking
over of all available buildings in the little French peasant
villages. The space was measured up by the town mayor
and the battalion leader and the proper number of men
assigned to each building. In this way a single division
covered a territory of about thirty kilometers. This sys-
tem made a camp of any size available in very short order
and also fooled the Huns, who were on the lookout for
American camps.

These villages were the usual farming villages, typical
of eastern France. They are not like American villages,
but a collection of farm yards, the houses huddled together
years ago for protection against roving bands of marauders.
The farmer, instead of living upon his land, lives in the
village, and there he has his bam for his cattle, his manure
pile is at his front door, the drainage from it seeps back
under the house at will, his chickens and pigs running
around the streets.

These houses were built some five or eight hundred
years ago, some a thousand or twelve hundred years. One
house in the town aroused much curiosity because it was
called the *^ new " house. It looked just like all the others.
One who was curious asked why it should have receired
this appellative and was told because it was the last one
that was built — only two hundred and fifty years ago.

There is a narrow hall or court running through these
houses which is all that separates the family from the
horses and pigs and cows which abide under the same roof.
4

50 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

The whole place smells alike. There is no heat any-
where, save from a fireplace in the kitchen. There is a
community bakehouse.

The soldiers were quartered in the bams and out-
houses, the officers were quartered in the homes of these
French peasants. There were no comforts for either sol-
dier or officer. It rained almost continuously and at night
it was cold. No dining-rooms could be provided where the
men could eat and they lined up on the street, got their
chow and ate it standing in the rain or under whatever
cover they could find. Few of them could understand any
French, and all the conditions surrounding their presence
in France were most trying to them. They were drilled
from morning to night. They were covered with mud.
The great fight in which they had come to participate was
still afar off. No wonder their hearts grew heavy with a
great longing for home. Gloom sat upon their faces and
depression grew with every passing hour.

Into these villages one after another came the little
military side-car with its pioneer Salvationists, investigat-
ing conditions and inquiring the greatest immediate need
of the men.

All the soldiers were homesick, and wherever the little
car stopped the Salvation Army uniform attracted imme-
diate and friendly attention. The boys expressed the
liveliest interest in the possibility of the Salvation Army
being with them in France. These troops composed the
regular army and were old-timers. They showed at once
their respect for and their belief in the Salvation Army.
One poor fellow, when he saw the uniform, exclaimed:
"The Salvation Army! I believe they'll be waiting for
us when we get to hell to try and save us ! "

It appeared that the pay of the American soldier was

THE SALVATION ARMY 51

so much greater than that of the French soldier that he
had too much money at his disposal; and this money was
a menace both to him and to the French population. If
some means could be provided for transferring the soldier's
money home, it would help out in the one direction which
was most important at that time.

It will be remembered that the French habit of drink-
ing wine was ever before the American soldier, and with
165 francs a month in his pocket, he became an object of
interest to the French tradespeople, who encouraged him
to spend his money in drink, and who also raised the price
on other commodities to a point where the French popu-
lation found it made living for them most difficult.

The Salvation Army authorities in New York were all
prepared to meet this need. The Organization has one
thousand posts throughout the United States commanded
by officers who would become responsible to get the sol-
dier's money to his family or relatives in the United States.
A simple money-order blank issued in France could be
sent to the National Headquarters of the Salvation Army
in New York and from there to the officer commanding
the corps in any part of the United States, who would
deliver the money in person.

In this way the friends and relatives of the soldier in
France would be comforted in the knowledge that the Sal-
vation Anny was in touch with their boy; and if need
existed in the family at home it would be discovered
through the visit of the Salvation Army officer in the home-
land and immediate steps taken to alleviate it.

Perhaps this has done more than anything else to bring
the blessing of parents and relatives upon the organization,
for tens of thousands of dollars that would have been spent
in gambling and drink have been sent home to widowed
mothers and young wives.

5« THE WAK ROMANCE OF

This suggestion appealed very strongly to the military
general, who said that if the Salvation Army got into opera-
tion it could count upon any assistance which he could give
it, and if they conducted meetings he would see that his
regimental band was instructed to attend these meetings
and furnish the music.

Several chaplains, both Protestant and Catholic, ex-
pressed themselves as being glad to welcome the Salvation
Axmy among them.

Among the Eegular Army officers there was rather a
pessimistic attitude. It was in nowise hostile, but rather
doubtful.

One general said that he did not see that the Sal-
^^tion Army could do any good. His idea of the Salvation
Army being associated altogether with the slums and men
who were down and out. But on the other hand, he said
that he did not see that the Salvation Army could do any
harm, even if they did not do any good, and as far as he
was concerned he was agreeable to their coming in to work
in the First Division; and he would so report to General
Pershing.

St. Nazaire, the base, was being used for the reception
of the troops as they reached the shores of France. Here
was a new situation. The men had been cooped up on trans-
ports for several days and on their landing at St. Nazaire
they were placed in a rest camp with the opportunity to
visit the city. Here they were a prey to immoral women
amd the officer commanding the base was greatly con-
cerned about the matter and eagerly welcomed the idea
of having the Salvation Army establish good women in St.
N'azaire who would cope with the problem.

The report given to General Pershing resulted in an
official authorization permitting the Salvation Army to

THE SALVATION ARMY 53

open their work with the American Expeditionary Forces,
and a suggestion that they go at once to the American
Training Area and see what they could do to alleviate the
terrible epidemic of homesickness that h^ broken out
among the soldiers.

In the meantime, back in New York, the Commander
had not been idle. Daily before the throne she had laid
the great concerns of her Army, and daily she had been
preparing her first little company of workers to go when
the need should call.

There was no money as yet, but the Commander was
not to be daunted, and so when the report came from over
the water, she borrowed from the banks twenty-five thou-
sand dollars.

She caUed the little company of pioneer workers to-
gether in a quiet place before they left and gave them such
a charge as would make an angel search his heart. Before
the Most High God she called upon them to tell her if
any of them had in his or her heart any motive or ambition
in going other than to serve the Lord Christ. She looked
down into the eyes of the young maidens and bade them put
utterly away from them the arts and coquetries of youth,
and remember that they were sent forth to help and save
and love the souls of men as God loved them; and that
self must be forgotten, or their work would be in vain.
She commanded them if even at this last hour any faltered
or felt himself unfit for the God-given task, that he would
tell her even then before it was too late. She begged them
to remember that they held in their hands the honor of
the Salvation Army, and the glory of Jesus Christ their
Saviour as they went out to serve the troops. They were
to be living exalmples of Christ's love, and they were to be
willing to lay down their lives if need be for His sake.

54 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

There were tears in the eyes of some of those strong
men that day as they listened, and the look of exaltation
on the faces of the women was like a reflection from above.
So must have looked the disciples of old when Jesus gave
them the commission to go into all the world and preach
the gospel. They were filled with His Spirit, and there
was a look of utter joy and self-forgetfulness as they knelt
with their leader to pray, in words which carried them all
to the very feet of God and laid their lives a willing sacri-
fice to Him who had done so much for them. Still kneel-
ing, with bowed heads, they sang, and their words were but
a prayer. It is a way these wonderful people have of burst-
ing into song upon their knees with their eyes closed and
faces illumined by a light of another world, their whole
souls in the words they are singing — ^^ singing as unto the
Lord ! '' It reminds one of the days of old when the
children of Israel did everything with songs and prayers
and rejoicing, and the whole of life was carried on as if in
the visible presence of G-od, instead of utterly ignoring
Him as most of us do now.

The song this time was just a few lines of consecration :

" Oh, for a heart whiter than snow !
Saviour Divine, to whom else can I go?
Tliou who hast died, loving m© so.
Give me a heart that is whiter than snow!"

The dramatic beauty of the scene, the sweet, holy
abandonment of that prayer-song with its tender, appeal-
ing melody, would have held a throng of thousands in awed
wonder. But there was no audience, unless, perchance, the
angels gathered around the little company, rejoicing that
in this world of sin and war there were these who bad so
given themselves to God; but from that glory-touched

THE LASSIE WHO FRIED THE FIRST DOUGHNUT IN FRANCE

THE SALVATION ARMY 55

room there presently went forth men and women with the
spirit in their hearts that was to thrill like an electric wire
every life with which it came in contact, and show the
whole world what God can do with lives that are wholly
surrendered to Him.

It was a bright, sunny afternoon, Angnst 12th, when
this first party of American Salvation Army workers set
sail for France.

No doubt there was many a smile of contempt from
the bystanders as they saw the little group of blue uni-
forms with the gold-lettered scarlet hatbands, and noticed
the four poke bonnets among the number. What did the
tambourine lassies know of REAL warfare ? To those who
reckoned the Salvation Army in terms of bands on the
street corner, and shivering forms guarding Christmas
kettles, it must have seemed the utmost audacity for this
'^ play army '' to go to the front.

When they arrived at Bordeaux on August 21st they
went at once to Paris to be fitted out with French uniforms,
as Greneral Pershing had given them all the rank of mili-
tary privates, and ordered that they should wear the regula-
tion khaki uniforms with the addition of the red Salva-
tion Army shield on the hats, red epaulets, and with skirts
for the women.

A cabled message had reached France from the Com-
mander saying that funds to the extent of twenty-five
thousand dollars had been arranged for, and would be sup-
plied as needed, and that a party of eleven officers were
being dispatched at once. After that matters began to
move rapidly.

A portable tent, 25 feet by 100 feet, was purchased and
shipped to Demange ; and a toujing car was bought with
part of the money advanced.

56 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

Purchasing an automobile in France is not a matter
merely of money. It is a matter for Governmental sanc-
tion, long delay, red tape — amazing good luck.

At the start the whole Salvation Army transportation
system consisted of this one first huge limousine, heart-
lessly overdriven and overworked. For many weeks it was
Colonel Barker's office and bedroom. It carried all of the
Salvation Army workers to and from their stations, hauled
aU of the supplies on its roof, inside, on its fenders, and
later also on a trailer. It ran day and night almost with-
out end, two drivers alternating. It was a sort of super-
ear, still in the service, to which Salvationists still refer
with an affectionate amazement when they consider its ter-
rific accomplishments. It hauled all of the lumber for the
first huts and a not uncommon sight was to see it tearing
along the road at forty miles an hour, loaded inside and on
top with supplies, several passengers clinging to its fen-
ders, and a load of lumber or trunks trailing behind. For
a long time Colonel Barker had no home aside from this
car. He slept wherever it happened to be for the night —
often in it, while sitill driven. One night he and a Sal-
vation Army officer were lost in a strange woods in the car
until four in the morning. They were without lights and
there were no real roads.

Later, of course, after long waiting, other trucks were
bought and to-day there are about fifty automobiles in this
service. Chauffeurs had to be developed out of men who
had never driven before. They were even taken from huts
and detailed to this work.

In this first touring car Colonel Barker with one of
the newly arrived adjutants for driver, started to Demange.

Twenty kilometers outside of Paris the car had a
breakdown. The two clambered out and reconnoitered for

THE SALVATION ARMY 67

help. There was nothing for it but to take the car back
to Paris. A man was found on the road who was willing
to take it in tow, but they had no rope for a tow line.
Oyer in the field by the roadside the sharp eyes of the
adjutant discovered some old rusty wire. He pulled it out
from the tangle of long grass, and behold it was a part
of old barbed-wire entanglements !

In great surprise they followed it up behind the camou-
flage and found themselves in the old trenches of 1914.
They walked in the trenches and entered some of the dug-
outs where the soldiers had lived in the memorable days of
the Marne fight. As they looked a little farther up the
hillside they were startled to see great pieces of heavy field
artillery, their long barrels sticking out from pits and
pointing at them. They went closer to examine, and
found the guns were made of wood painted black. The
barrels were perfectly made, even to the breech blocks
mounted on wheels, the tires of which were made of tin.
They were a perfect imitation of a heavy ordnance piece in
every detail. Curious, wondering what it could mean, the
two explorers looked about them and saw an old French-
man coming toward them. He proved to be the keeper of
the place, and he told them the story. These were the
guns that saved Paris in 1914.

Thf Boche had been coming on twenty kilometers one
day, nineteen the next, fooirteen the next, and were daily
drawing nearer to the great city. They were so confident
that they had even announced the day they would sweep
through the gates of Paris. The French had no guns
heavy enough to stop that mad rush, and so they mounted
these guns of wood, cut away the woods all about them and
for three hundred meters in front, and waited with their
pitifully thin, ill-equipped line to defend the trenches.

58 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

Then the German airplanes came and took pictures of
them, and returned to their lines to make plans for the
next day; but when the pictures were developed and en-
larged they saw to their horror that the French had brought
heavy guns to their front and were preparing to blow them
out of France. They decided to delay their advance and
wait until they could bring up artillery heavier than the
French had, and while they waited the Germans broke into
the French wine cellars and stole the " vin blanche " and
" vin rouge/' The French call this " light '' wine and say
it takes the place of water, which is only fit for washing;
but it proved to be too hea\7' for the Germans that day.
They drank freely, not even waiting to unseal the bottles
of rare old vintage, but knocked the necks o2 the bottles
against the stone walls and drank. They were all drunk
and in no condition to conquer France when their artillery
came up, and so the wooden French guns and the French
wine saved Paris.

When the two men finally arrived in Demange the
Military General greeted them gladly and invited them to
dine with him.

He had for a cook a fa^nous French chef who provided
delicious meals, but for dessert the chef had attempted to
make an American aipple pie, which was a dismal failure.
The colonel said to the general : " Just wait till our Sal-
vation Army women get here and I will see that they make
you a pie that is a pie."

The General and the members of his staff said they
would remember that promise and hold him to it.

The pleasoire which the thought of that pie aroused
furnished a suggestion for work later on.

Within two or three days the hut had arrived. The
question of a lot upon which to place it was most important.

THE SALVATION ARMY 59

The billeting officers stated that none could be had within
the town and insisted that the hut would have to be placed
in an inaccessible spot on the outskirts of the town, but
Colonel Barker asked the General if he would mind his
looking about himself and he readily assented. The in-
domitable Barker, true to the " never-say-die " slogan of
the Salvation Army, went out and found a splendid lot
on the main etreet in the heart of the town, which was
being partly used by its owner as a vegetable garden. He
quickly secured the services of a French interpreter and
struck a bargain with the owner to rent the lot for the
sum. of sixteen dollars a year, and on his return with the
information that this lot had been secured the General was
greatly impressed.

A wire had been sent to Paris instructing the men of
the party to come down immediately. A couple of tents
were secured to provide temporary sleeping accommoda-
tion and the men lined up in the chow line with the dough-
boys at meal-time.

The six Salvationists pulled off their coats at once and
went to work, much to the amusement of a few curious
soldiers who stood idly watching them.

They discovered right at the start that the building
materials which had been sent ahead of them had been
dumped on the wrong lot, and the first thing they had to
do was to move them all to the proper site. This was no
easy task for men who had but recently left office chairs
and clerical work. Unaccustomed muscles cried out in pro-
test and weary backs ached and complained, but the men
stubbornly marched back and forth carrying big timbers,
and attracting not a little attention from soldiers who
wondered what in the world the Salvation Army could be
up to over in France. Some of them were suspicious. Had

60 THE WAR ROIVIANCE OF

they come to try and stuff religion down their throats?
If so, they would soon find out their mistake. So, half
in belligerence, half in amusement, the soldiers watched
their progress. It was a big joke to them, who had come
here for serious business and longed to be at it.

Steadily, quietly, the work went on. They laid the
timbers and erected the framework of their hut, keeping
at it when the rain fell and soaked them to the skin. They
were a bit awkward at it at first, perhaps, for it was new
work to them, and they had but few tools. The hut was
twenty-five feet wide and a hundred feet long. The walls
went up presently, and the roof went on. One or two sol-
diers were getting interested and offered to help a bit ; but
for the most part th-ey stood apart suspiciously, while the
Salvation Army worked cheerily on and finished the build-
ing with their own hands.

Colonel Barker meanwhile had gone back to Paris for
supplies and to bring the women overland in the automo-
bile, because he was somewhat fearful lest they might be
held up if they attempted to go out by train. The idea
of women in the camps was so new to our American sol-
diers, and so distasteful to the French, that they presented
quite a problem until their work fully Justified their
presence.

It got about that some real American girls were com-
ing. The boys began to grow curious. When the big
Erench limousine carrying thom arrived in the camp it
was greeted by some of the soldiers with the greatest
enthusiasm while others looked on in critical silence. But
very soon their influence was felt, for a commanding officer
stated that his men were more contented and more easily
handled since the unprecedented innovation of women in
the camp than they had been wdthin the experience of the

THE SALVATION ARMY 61

old Kegular Army officers. Profanity practically ceased in
the vicinity of the hut and was never indulged in in the
presence of the Salvationists.

While the hut was being erected meetings were con-
ducted in the open air which were attended by great
throngs, and after every meeting froim one to four or five
boys asked for the privilege of going into the tent at the
back and being prayed with, and many conversions resulted
from these first open-air meetings. Boys walked in from
other camps from a distance as far away as five miles to
attend these meetings and many were converted.

The hut was finally completed and equipped and was to
be formally opened on Sunday evening.

In the meantime the Y. M. C. A. was getting busy also
establishing its work in the camps; therefore, the Salva-
tion Army tried to place their huts in towns where the Y.
was not operating, so that they might be able to reach those
who had the greatest need of them.

Officers had been appointed to take charge of the De-
mange hut and immediately further operations in other
towns were being arranged.

A Y. M. C. A. hut, however, followed quickly on the
heels of the Salvation Army at Demange and the night
of the opening of the Salvation Army hut someone came
to ask if they would come over to the Y. and help in a
meeting. Sure, they would help! So the Staff-Captain
took a cornetist and two of the lassies and went over to
the Y. M. C. A. hut.

It was early dusk and a crowd was gathered about where
a rope ring fenced off the place in which a boxing match
had been held the day before, across the road from the hut.
The band had been stationed there giving a concert which
was just finished, and the men were sitting in a circle on
the ground about the ring.

62 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

The Salvationists stood at the door of the hut and
looked across to the crowd.

" How about holding our meeting over there ? " asked
the Staff- Captain of the man in charge.

"All right. Hold it wherever you like."

So a few willing hands brought out the piano, and
the four Salvationists made their way across to the ring.
The soldiers raised a loud cheer and hurrah to see the
women stoop and slip under the rope, and a spirit of sym-
pathy seemed to be established at once.

There were a thousand men gathered about and the
comet began where the band had left off, thrilling out
between the roar of guns.

Up above were the airplanes throbbing back and forth,
and signal lights were flashing. It was a strange place for
a meeting. The men gathered closer to see what was
going on.

The sound of an old familiar hymn floated out on the
evening, bringing a sudden memory of home and days when
one was a little boy and went to Sunday-school; when
there was no war, and no one dreamed that the sons would
have to go forth from their own land to %ht. A sudden
hush stole over the men and they sat enthralled watching
the little band of singers in the changing flicker of light
and darkness. Women's voices! Young and fresh, too,
not old ones. How they thrilled with the sweetness of it :

" Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee,
E'en though it be a cross
That raiseth me."

A cross! Was it possible that God was leading them
to Him through all this awf ulness ? But the thought only

THE SALVATION ARMY 6S

hovered above them and hushed their hearts into attention
as they gruffly joined their young voices in the melody.
Another song followed, and a prayer that seemed to bring
the great God right down in their midst and make Him
a beloved comrade. They had not got over the wonder
of it when a new note sounded on piano and comet and
every voice broke forth in the words:

" When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound
And time shall be no more ^"

How soon would that trumpet sound for many of them !
Time should be no more ! What a startling thought !

Following close upon the song came the sweet voice of
a young girl speaking. They looked up in wonder, listen-
ing with all their souls. It was like having an angel drop
down among them to see her there, and hear her clear,
unafraid voice. The first thing that struck them was
her intense earnestness, as if she had a message of great
moment to bring to them.

Her words searched their hearts and found out the weak
places; those fears and misgivings that they had known
were there from the beginning, and had been tTjing hard
to hide from themselves because they saw no cure for them.
With one clear-cut sentence she tore away all camouflage
and set them face to face with the facts. They were in a
desperate strait and they knew it. Back there in the States
they had known it. Down in the calmps they had felt it,
and had made various attempts to find something strong
and true to help them, but no one had seemed to imder-
sitand. Even when they went to church there had been
so much talk: about the *^ supreme sacrifice " and the glory
of dying for one's country, that they had a rague feeling

64 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

that even the minister did not believe in his religion any
more. And so they had whistled and tried to be jolly and
forget. They were all in the same boat, and this was a job
that had to be done, they couldn't get out of it; best not
think about the future! So they had lulled their con-
sciences to sleep. But it was there, back in their minds
all the time, a looming big awful question about the here-
after; and when the great guns boomed afar as a few were
doing to-night and they thought how soon they might be
called to go over the top, they would have been fools not to
have recognized it.

But here at last was someone else who understood !

She was telling the old, old story of Jesus and His
love, and every man of them as he listened felt it was
true. It had been like a vague tale of childhood before;
something that one outgrows and smiles at; but now it
suddenly seemed so simple, so perfect, so fitted to their
desperate need. Just the old story that everybody has
sinned, and broken God's law : that God in His love pro-
vided a way of escape in the death of His Son Jesus on the
Cross, froim penalty for sin for all who would accept it;
that He gave every one of us free wills; and it was up to
us whether we would accept it or not.

There were men in that company who had come froto
college classes where they had been taught the foolishness
of blood atonement, and who had often smiled disdain-
fully at the Bible ; there were boys from cultured, refined
homes where Jesus Christ had always been ignored; there
were boys who had repudiated the God their mothers trusted
in; and there were boys of lower degree whose lips were
foul with blasphemy and whose hearts were scarred with
sin ; but all listened, now, in a new way. It was somehow
different over here, with the thunder of artillery in the

THE SALVATION AEMY 65

near distance, the hovering presence of death not far away,
the flashing of signal lights, the hum of the airplanes, the
whole background of war. The message of the gospel
took on a reality it had never worn before. When this simple
girl asked if they would not take Jesus to-night as their
Saviour, there were many who raised their hands in the
darkness and many more hearts were bowed whose owners
could not quite bring themselves to raise their hands.
Then a lassie's voice began to sing, all alone:

" I grieved my Lord from day to day,
I scorned His love, so full and free,
And though I wandered far away.

My Mother's prayers have followed me.
I'm coming home, I'm coming home,

To live my wasted life anew.
For Mother's prayers have followed me.

Have followed me, the whole world through..

" O'er desert wild, o'er mountain high,
A wanderer I chose to be —
A wretched soul condemned to die;

Still Mother's prayers have followed me.

" He turned my darkness into light,
This blessed Christ of Calvary;
I'll prai&e His name both day and night.
That Mother's prayers have followed me!
I'm coming home, I'm coming home — "

Only the last great day will reveal how many hearts
echoed those words; but the voices were all husky with
emotion as they tried to join in the closing hymn that
followed.

There were those who lingered about the speakers and
wanted to inquire the way of salvation, and some knelt
5

66 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

in a quiet comer and gave themselves to Christ. Over all
of theon there was a hushed thoughtfulness. When the
workers started hack to their own hut the crowd went
with them, talking eagerly as they went, hovering about
wistfully as if here were the first real thing they had found
since coming away from home.

Over at the Salvation Army hut another service had
been going forward with equal interest, the dedication of
the new building. The place was crowded to its utmost
capacity, and crowds were standing outside and peering
in at the windows. Some of the French people of the
neighborhood, women and children and old men, had
drifted over, and were listening to the singing in open-
eyed wonderment. Among them one of the Salvation
Army workers had distributed copies of the French " War
Cry " with stories of Christ in their own language, and it
began to dawn upon them that these people believed in the
same Jesus that was worshipped in their French churches ;
yet they never had seen services like these. The joyous
music thrilled them.

Before they slept that night the majority of the sol-
diers in that vicinity had lost most of their prejudice
against the little band of unselfish workers that had dropped
so quietly down into their midst. Word was beginning to
filter out from camp to camp that they were a good sort,
that they sold their goods at cost and a fellow could even
*^ jawbone " when he was ^' broke."

Salvation Army huts gave the soldiers " jawbone,^'
this being the soldier's name for credit. No accounts
were kept of the amount allowed to each soldier. When
a soldier came to the canteen and asked for " jawbone/'
he was asked how much he had already been allowed. If
the amount owed by him already was large, he was cautioned

THE SALVATION ARMY 67

not to go too deeply into his next pay check; but never
was a man refused anything within reason. Frequently
one hut would have many thousands of francs outstanding
by the end of a month. But, although there was no check
against them, soldiers always squared their accounts at
pay-day and very little indeed was lost.

One man came in and threw 300 francs on the counter,
sayinig: *^I owe you 285 francs. Put the change in the
coffee fund."

One Salvation Army Ensign frequently loaned sums ol
money out of his own pocket to soldiers, asking that, when
they were in a position to return it, they hand it in to any
Salvation Army hut, saying that it was for him. He says
that he has never lost by doing this.

One day as he was driving from Havre to Paris he met
six American soldiers whose big truck had broken down.
They asked him where there was a Salvation Army hut;
but there was none in that particular section. They had
no food, no money, and no place to sleep. He handed
them seventy francs and told them to leave it at any Sal-
vation Army hut for him when they were able. Five
months passed and then the money was turned in to a
Salvation Aiimy hut and forwarded to him. With it was
a note stating that the men had been with the French,
troops and had not been able to reach a Salvation Army
establishment. They were very grateful for the trust re-
posed in them by the Salvationist. Undoubtedly there are
many such instances.

The Salvation Army officer who with his wife was put
in charge of the hut at Demange, soon bedame one of the
most popula,r men in camp. His generous spirit, no less
than his rough-and-ready good nature, manful, soldier-like
disposition, coupled with a sturdy self-respect and a ready

68 THE WAK ROMANCE OF

huanor, made him Wood brother to those hard-bitten old
regulars and National Guardsmen of the first American
Expeditionary Force.

The Salvation Army quickly became popular. Meet-
ings were held almost every night at that time with an
average attendance of not less than five hundred. Meetings
as a rule were confined to wonderful song services and brief,
snappy talks. At first there were very few conversions, but
there have been more since the great drives in which the
Americans have taken so large a share. The Masons, the
Moose and a Jewish fraternity used the hut for fraternal
gatherings. Catholic priests held mass in it upon various
occasions. The school for officers and the school for " non-
coms " met in it. The band practiced in it every morning.
Because of its popularity among the men it was known
among the officers as " the soldiers' hut." General Duncan
once addressed his staff officers in it upon some important
matters.

It rained every day for three months. The hut was on
rather low ground and in back of it ran the river, consid-
erably swollen by the rains. One night the river rose sud-
denly, carried away one tent and flooded the other two and
the hut. The Salvation Army men spent a wild, wet,
sleepless night trying to salvage their scanty personal be-
longings and their stock of supplies. When the river
retreated it left the hut floor covered with slimy black mud
which the two men had to shovel out. This was a back-
breaking task occupying the better part of two days.

The first snow fell on the bitterest night of the year.
It was preceded by the rain and was damp and heavy.
The soldiers suffered terribly, especially the men on guard
duty who had perforce to endure the full blast of the storm.
During the earlier hours of the night the girls served all

THE SALVATION ARMY 69

comers with steaming coffee and filled the canteens of the
men on guard (free) . When they saw how severe the night
would be they remained up to keep a supply of coffee ready
for the Salvation Army men who went the rounds through
the storm every half hour, serving the sentries with the
warming fluid.

That first Expeditionary Force wanted for many things,
and endured hardships unthought of by troops arriving
later, after the war industries at home had swung into full
production. It was almost impossible to secure stoves, and
firewood was scarce. For every load that went to the Salva-
tion Army Hut, men of the American Expeditionary Force
had to do without, and yet wood was always supplied to the
Salvationists (it could not be bought).

At St. Joire, the wood pile had entirely given out and
it looked as if there was to be no heat at the Salvation
Army hut that night. The sergeant promised them half a
load, but the wood wagon lost a wheel about a hundred
yards out of town.

" Never mind,'' said the sergeant to the girls, " the boys
wiU see that you get some to-night."

So he requested every man going up to the Salvation
Army hut that evening to carry a stick of wood with him
("a stick'' may weigh anywhere from 10 to 100 pounds).
By eight o'clock there was over a wagon load and a half
stacked in back of the hut.

Two small stoves cast circles of heat in the big hut at
Demange. Around them the men crowded with their wet
garments steaming so profusely that the hut often took
on the appearance of a steam-room in a Turkish bath.
The rest of the hut was cold ; but compared to the weather
outside, it was heaven-like. For all of its size, the hut
was frail, and the winter wind blew coldly through its

70 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

many cracks; but compared with the soldier's billets, it
was a cozy palace. The Salvationists spent hours each
week sitting on the roof in the driving rain patching leaks
with tar-paper and tacks.

The life was a hard one for the girls. They nearly
froze during the days, and at nights they usually shivered
themselves to sleep, only sleeping when sheer exhaustion
overcame them. There were no baths at all. The experi-
ence was most trying for women and only the spirit of the
great enterprise in which they were engaged carried them
through the winter. Even soldiers were at times seen
weeping with cold and misery.

One night the gasoline tank which supplied light to
the hut exploded and set the place on fire. A whole regi-
ment turned out of their blankets to put out the blaze.
This meant more hours for those in charge repairing the
roof in the snow. They also had to cut all of the wood for
the hut. Later details were supplied to every hut by the
military authorities to cut wood, sweep and clean up, carry
water, etc. Soldiers used the hut for a mess hall. There
was no other place where they could eat with any degree of
comfort.

By this time the fact that the Salvation Army was
established at Demange was becoming known throughout
the division.

One of the towns where there had been no arrangements
made for welfare workers at all was Montiers-sur-Saulx,
where the First Ammunition Train was established, and
here the officer temporarily commanding the ammunition
train gave a most hearty welcome to the Salvation Army.

Two large circus tents had been sent on from New
York and one of these was to be erected until a wooden
building could be secured.

THE SALVATION ARMY 71

The touring car went back to Demange, picked up a
Staff-Captain, a Captain, five white tents, the largest one
thirty by sixty feet, the others smaller, carried them across
the country and dropped them down at the roadside of the
public square in Montiers.

There stood the Salvationists in the road wondering
what to do next.

Then a hearty voice called out : '' Are you locating with
us ? " and the military officer of the day advanced to meet
them with a hand-shake and many expressions of his
appreciation of the Salvation Army.

" We are going to stay here if you will have us," said
the Staff-Captain.

" Have you ! Well, I should say we would have you !
Wait a minute and 111 have a detail put your baggage
under cover for the night. Then we'll see about dinner and
a biUet.''

Thus auspiciously did the work open in Montiers.

In a few minutes they were taken to a French cafe
and a comfortable place found for them to spend the night.

Soon after the rising of the sun the next morning they
were up and about hunting a place for the tents which were
to serve for a recreation centre for the boys. The American
Major in charge of the town personally assisted them to find
a good location, and offered his aid in any way needed.

Before nightfall the five white tents were up, standing
straight and true with military precision, and the two offi-
cers with just pride in their hard day's work, and a secret
assurance that it would stand the hearty approval of the
commanding officer whom they had not as yet met, went off
to their suppers, for which they had a more than usually
hearty appetite.

Suddenly the door of the dining-rooim swung open and a

72 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

gruff voice demanded : " Who put up those tents ? " The
Salvation Army Staff-Captain stood forth saluting respect-
fully and responded : " I, sir." " Well," said the Colonel,
"they look mighty fine up on that hill — mighty fine!
Splendid location for them — splendid ! But the enemy can
spot them for a hundred miles, so I expect you had better
get them down or camouflage them with green boughs and
paint by to-morrow night at the latest. Good evening to
you, sir !"

The Staff-Captain and his helper suddenly lost their fine
appetites and felt very tired. Camouflage ! How did they
do that at a moment's notice ? They left their unfinished
dinner and hurried out in search of help.

The first soldier the Staff-Captain questioned reassured
him.

" Aw, that's dead easy ! Go over the hill into the woods
and cut some branches, enough to cover your tents; or
easier yet, get some green and yellow paint and splash over
them. The worse they look the better they are ! "

So the weary workers hunted the town over for paint,
and found only enough for the big tent, upon which they
worked hard all the next morning. Then they had to go to
the woods for branches for the rest. Scratched and bleed-
ing and streaked with perspiration and dirt, they finished
their work at last, and the white tents had disappeared into
the green and the yellow and the brown of the hillside.
Their beautiful military whiteness was gone, but they were
hidden safe from the enemy and the work might now go
forward.

Then the girls arrived and things began to look a bit
more cheerful.

THE SALVATION ARMY 73

" But where is the cook stove ? ^' asked one of the lassies
after they had set up their two folding cots in one of the
smaller tents and made themselves at home.

Dismay descended upon the face of the weary Staff-
Captain.

" Why/^ he answered apologetically, " we forgot all
about that ! " and he hurried out to find a stove.

A thorough search of the surrounding country, how-
ever, disclosed the fact that there was not a stove nor a
field range to be had — no, not even from the commissary.
There was nothing for it but to set to work and contrive a
fireplace out of field stone and clay, with a bit of sheet
iron for a roof, and two or three lengths of old sewer pipe
carefully wired together for a stovepipe. It took days of
hard work, and it smoked woefully except when the wind
was exactly west, but the girls made fudge enough on it
for the entire personnel of the ammunition train tot cele-
brate when it was finished.

When the girls first arrived in Montiers the Salvation
Army Staff- Captain was rather at a loss to know what to
do with them until the hut was built. They were invited
to chow with the soldiers, and to eat in an old French bam
used as a kitchen, in front of which the men lined up at
the open doorways for mess. It was a very dirty barn
indeed, with heavy cobwebs hanging in weird festoons from
the ceiling and straw and manure all over the floor ; quite
too barnlike for a dining-hall for delicately reared women.
The Staff-Captain hesitated about bringing them there, but
the Mess- Sergeant offered to clean up a corner for them
and give them a comfortable table.

^'1 don't know about bringing my girls in here with
the men," said the Staff-Captain still hesitating. ^'You

74 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

know the men are pretty rough in their talk, and they're
always cussing ! "

" Leave that to me ! " said the Mess-Sergeant. " It'll
be all right!"

There was an old dirty French wagon in the barnyard
where they kept the bread. It was not an inviting pros-
pect and the Staff- Captain looked about him dubiously and
went away with many misgivings, but there seemed to be
nothing else to be done.

The boys did their best to fix things up nicely. When
meal time arrived and the girls appeared they found their
table neatly spread with a dish towel for a tablecloth. It
purported to be clean, but there are degrees of cleanliness
in the army and there might have been a difference of
opinion. However, the girls realized that there had been
a strenuous attempt to do honor to them and they sat
down on the coffee kegs that had been provided en lieu of
chairs with smiling appreciation.

The Staff-Captain's anxiety began to relax as he noticed
the quiet respectful attitude of the men when they passed
by the doorway and looked eagerly orver at the comer where
the girls were sitting. It was great to have American
women sitting down to dinner with them, as it were. Not a
*^cuss word" broke the harmony of the occasion. The
best cuts of meat, the largest pieces of pie, were given to
the girls, and everybody united to make them feel how
welcome they were.

Then into the midst of the pleasant scene there entered
one who had been away for a few hours and had not yet
been made acquainted with the new order of things at
chow ; and he entered with an oath upon his lips.

He was a great big fellow, but the strong arm of the
Mess-Sergeant flashed out from the shoulder instantly.

THE SALVATION ARMY 75

the sturdy fist of the Mess-Sergeant was planted most un-
expectedly in the newcomer's face, and he found himself
sprawling on the other side of the road with all his com-
rades glaring at him in silent wrath. That was the begin-
ning of a new order of things at the mess.

The Colonel in charge of the regiment had gone away,
and the commanding Major, wishing to make things pleas-
ant for the Salvationists, sent for the Staff-Captain and
invited them all to his mess at the chateau; telling him
that if he needed anything at any time, horses or supplies,
or anything in his power to give, to let him know at once
and it should be supplied.

The Staff- Captain thanked him, but told him that he
thought they would stay with the boys.

The boys, of course, heard of this and the Salvation
Army people had another bond between them and the sol-
diers. The boys felt that the Salvationists were their very
own. Nothing could have more endeared them to the boys
than to share their life and hardships.

The Salvation Army had not been with the soldiers
many hours before they discovered that the disease of home-
sickness which they had been sent to succor was growing
more and more malignant and spreading fast.

The training under French officers was very severe.
Trench feet with all its attendant suffering was added to
the other discomforts. Was it any wonder that home-
sickness seized hold of every soldier there?

It had been raining steadily for thirty-six days, mak-
ing swamps and pools everywhere. Depression like a great
heavy blanket hung over the whole area.

The Salvation Army lassies at Montiers were in con-
sultation. Their supplies were all gone, and the state of
the roads on account of the rain was such that all trans-

76 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

portation was held up. They had been waiting, hoping
against hope, that a new load of supplies would arrive, but
there seemed no immediate promise of that.

"We ought to have something more than just choco-
late to sell to the soldiers, anyway,'^ declared one lassie,
who was a wonderful cook, looking across the big tent to
the drooping shoulders and discouraged faces of the boys
who were hovering about the Yictrola, trying to extract
a little comfort from the records. " We ought to be able
to give them some real home cooking ! "

They all agreed to this, but the difficulties in the way
were great. Flour was obtainable only in small quantities.
Now and then they could get a sack of flour or a bag of
sugar, but not often. Lard also was a scarce article. Be-
sides, there were no stoves, 'and? no equipment had as yet
been issued for ovens. All about them were apple orchards
and they might have baked some pies if there had been
ovens, but at present that was out of the question. After
a long discussion one of the girls suggested doughnuts,
and even that had its difficulties, although it really was
the only thing possible at the time. For one thing they
had no rolling-pin and no cake-cutter in the outfit. Never-
theless, they bravely went to work. The little tent intended
for such things had blown down, so the lassie had to stand
out in the rain to prepare the dough.

The first doughnuts were patted out, until someone
found an eimpty grape-Juice bottle and used that for a
rolling-pin. As they had no cutter they used a knife, and
twisted them, making them in shape like a cruller. They
were cooked over a wood fire that had to be continually
stuffed with fuel to keep the fat hot enough to fry. The
pan they used was only large enough to cook seven at onoe,
but that first day they made one hundred and fifty big

THE SALVATION ARMY 77

fat sugary doughnuts, and when the luscious fragrance
began to float out on the air and word went forth that they
had real '^ honest-to^goodness '' home douglinuts at the Sal-
vation Army hut, the line formed away out into the road
and stood patiently for hours in the rain waiting for a taste
of the dainties. As there were eight hundred men in the
outfit anl only a hundred and fifty doughnuts that first
day, naturally a good many were disappointed, but those
who got them were appreciative. One boy as he took the
first sugary bite exclaimed : " Gee ! If this is war, let it
continue ! "

The next day the girls managed to make three hun-
dred, but one of them was not satisfied with a doughnut
that had no hole in it, and while she worked she thought,
until a bright idea came to her. The top of the baking-
powder can ! Of course ! Why hadn't they thought of
that before? But how could they get the hole? There
seemed nothing just right to cut it. Then, the very next
morning the inside tube to the coffee percolator that
somebody had brought along came loose, and the lassie
stood in triumph with it in her hand, calling to them all to
see what a wonderful hole it would make in the doughnut.
And so the doughnut came into its own, hole and all.

That was at Montiers, the home of the doughnut.

One of the older Salvation Army workers remarked
jocularly that the Salvation Army had to go to France and
get linked up with the doughnut before America recog-
nized it ; but it was the same old Salvation Army and the
same old doughnut that it had always been. He averred
that it wasn't the doughnut at all that made the Salvation
Army faanous, but the wonderful girls that the Salvation
Army brought over there ; the girls that lay awake at night
after a long hard day's work scheming to make the way of

78 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

the dougliboy easier ; scheming how to take the cold out of
the snow and the wet out of the rain and the stickiness out
of the mud. The girls that prayed over the doughnuts,
and then got the maximum of grace out of the minimum
of grease.

The young Adjutant lassie who fried the first doughnut
in France says that invariably the boys would begin to talk
about home and mother while they were eating the dough-
nuts. Through the hole in the doughnut they seemed to
see their mother's face, and as the doughnut disappeared
it grew bigger and clearer.

The young Ensign lassie who had originated and made
the first doughnut in France contrived to make many pies
on a very tiny French stove with an oven only large enough
to hold two pies at a time. Meanwhile, frying doughnuts
on the top of the stove.

It wasn't long before the record for the doughnut
makers had been brought up to five thousand a day, and
some of the unresting workers developed "doughnut
wrist " from sticking to the job too long at a time.

It was the original thought that pie would be the great-
est attraction, but it was difiicult to secure stoves with.
ovens adequate for baking pies, and after the ensign's ex-
periment with douglinuts it was found that they could
more easily be m-ade and were quite as acceptable to the
American boy.

Meantime, the pie was coming into its own, back in
Demange also.

It was only a little stove, and only room to bake one
pie at a time, but it was a savory smell that floated out on
the air, and it was a long line of hungry soldiers that hur-
ried for their mess kits and stood hours waiting for more
pies to bake; and the fame of the Salvation Army began

THE SALVATION ARMY 79

to spread far and wide. Then one day the '^^ Stars and
Stripes," the organ of the American Army, printed the
following poem about the lassie who labored so far for-
ward that she had to wear a tin hat :

" Home is where the heart is " —

Thus the poet sang;
But '" home is where the pie is "

For the doughboy gang! ;

Crullers in the craters, \

Pastry in abris — l

This Salvation Army lass (

Sure knows how to please!

Tin hat for a halo!

Ah! She wears it well!
Making pies for homesick lads

Sure is "beating hell!''
In a region blasted

By fire and flame and sword,
This Salvation Army lasa

Battles for the Lord!

Call me sacrilegious

And irreverent, too;
Pies? They link us up with homo

As naught else can do! [

" Home is where the heart is " —

True, the poet sang;
But " home is where the pie is " —

To the Yankee gang!

It was no easy task to open up a chain of huts, for
there was an amazing variety of details to be attended to,
any one of which might delay the work. A hundred and
one unexpected situations would develop during the course
of a single day which must be dealt with quickly and in-

80 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

telligently. The fact that the Salvation Army section of the
American Expeditionary Force is militarized and strictly
accountable for all of its action to the United States mili-
tary authorities is complicated in many places by the
further f ?^ct that the French civil and military authorities
must also be taken into consideration and consulted at
every step. Nevertheless, in spite of all difficulties the
work went steadily forward. The patient officers who
were seeing to all these details worked almost night and
day to place the huts and workers where they would do
the most good to the greatest number; and steadily the
Salvation Army grew in favor with the soldiers.

It was extremely difficult to obtain materials for the
erection of huts — in many cases almost impossible. Once
when Colonel Barker found troops moving, he discovered
the village for which they "vvere bound, rushed ahead in his
automobile, and commandeered an old French barracks
which would otherwise have been occupied by the American
soldiers. When the soldiers arrived they were overjoyed to
find the Salvation Army awaiting them with hot food.
They were soaked through by the rain, and never was hot
coffee more welcome. There was a little argument about
the commandeered barracks. It was to have been used as
headquarters, but when the commanding officer went out
into the rain and saw for himself what service it was per-
forming for his men, and how overjoyed they were by the
entertainment he said : " We'll leave it to the men, whether
they wiU be billeted here or let the Salvation Army have
the place. The men with one accord voted to give it to the
Salvation Army.

In one town, after an animated discussion with a crowd
of enlisted men, a sergeant came to the Salvation Army

''tin hat for a halo!
ah! she wears it well!'

J^SIS'

THE PATIENT OFFICERS WHO WERE SEEING TO ALL THESE DETAILS
WORKED ALMOST DAY AND NIGHT

THE SALVATION ARMY 81

Major as he worked away with his hammer putting up a
hut and said : " Captain, would it make you mad if we
offered our services to help ? ^'

After that the work went on in record time. In less
than a week the hut was finished and ready for business.
Two self-appointed details of soldiers from the regulars
employed all their spare time in a friendly rivalry to see
which could accomplish the most work. When it was
dedicated the popularity of the hut was well assured.
Later, in another location, a hut 125 feet by 27 feet was put
up with the assistance of soldiers in six hours and twenty
minutes.

More men and women had arrived froto America, and
the work began to assume business-like proportions. There
were huts scattered all through the American training area.

As other huts were established the making of pies and
doughnuts became a regular part of the daily routine of
the hut. It was found that a canteen where candy and
articles needed by the soldiers could be obtained at moderate
prices would fill a very pressing need and this was made
a part of their regular operation.

The purchase of an adequate quantity of supplies was a
great problem. It was necessary to make frequent trips to
Paris, to establish connections with supply houses there,
and to attend to the shipping of the supplies out to the
camps. At first it was impossible to purchase any quantity
of supplies from any house. The demand for everything
was so great that wholesale dealers were most independent.
Three hundred dollars' worth of supplies was the most that
could be purchased from any one house, but in course of
time, confidence and friendly relations being established, it
became possible to purchase as much as ten thousand dol-
lars' worth at one time from one dealer.

82 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

The first twenty-five thousand dollars, of course, was
soon gone, but another fifty thousand dollars arrived from
Headquarters in New York, and after a little while another
fifty thousand ; which hundred thousand dollars was loaned
by General Bramwell Booth from the International Treas-
ury. The money was not only borrowed, but the Com-
mander had promised to pay it back in twelve months
(which guarantee it is pleasant to state was made good long
before the promised time), for the Commander had said:
"It is only a question of our getting to work in France,
and the American public will see that we have all the
money we want/'

So it has proved.

In the meantime another hut was established at Houde-
lainecourt.

The American boys were drilling from early morning
until dark; the weather was wet and cold; the roads were
seas of mud and the German planes came over the valleys
almost nightly to seek out the position of the American
troops and occasionally to drop bombs. It was necessary
that all tents should be camouflaged, windows darkened so
that lights would not show at night, and every means used
to keep the fact of the Americans' presence from the Ger-
man observers and spies.

Another party of Salvation Army officers, men and
women, arrived from New York on September 23rd, and
these were quickly sent out to Demange which for the time
being was used as the general base of supplies, but later a
house was secured at Ligny-en-Barrios, and this was for
many months the Headquarters.

One interesting incident occurred here in connection
with this house. One of its greatest attractions had been
that it was one of the few houses containing a bathroom,

THE SALVATION ARMY 83

but when the new tenants arrived they found that the antici-
pated bathtub had been taken out with all its fittings and
carefully stowed away in the cellar. It was too precious
for the common use of tenants.

All Salvation Army graduates from the training school
have a Eed Cross diploma, and many are experienced
nurses.

A Salvation Army woman Envoy sailed for France
with a party of Salvationists about the time that the epi-
demic of influenza broke out all over the world. Even
before the steamer reached the quarantine station in New
York harbor a number of cases of Spanish influenza had
developed among the several companies of soldiers who
were aboard, a number of whom were removed from the
ship. So anxious were others of these American fighting
men to reach France that they hid away until the steamer
had left port.

Land was hardly out of sight before more cases of
the disease were reported — so many, in fact, that special
hospital accommodations had to be immediately arranged.
The ship's captain after consulting with the American
military officers, requested the Salvation Army Envoy to
take entire responsibility for the hospital, which responsi-
bility, after some hesitation, she accepted. Under her
were two nurses, three dieticians (Y. M. C. A. "and Eed
Cross), a medical corps sergeant (U. S. A.), and twenty-
four orderlies. She took charge on the fourth day of a
thirteen day voyage, working in the sick bay from 12 noon
to 8 P.M., and from 12 midnight to 8 a.m. every day. She
had with her a mandolin and a guitar with which, in addi-
tion to her sixteen hours of duty in the sick bay, she every
day spent some time (usually an hour or two) on deck

84 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

singing and playing for the soldiers who were much de-
pressed by the epidemic. To them she was a very angel of
good cheer and comfort.

Many amusing incidents occurred on the voyage.

Stormy weather had added to the discomforts of the
trip and most of the passengers suffered from seasickness
during the greater part of the voyage.

On board there was also a woman of middle age who
could not be persuaded to keep her cabin porthole closed
at night. Again and again a ray of light was projected
through it upon the surface of the water and the quarter-
master, whose duty it was to see that no lights were shown,
was at his wit's end. His difficulty was the greater because
he could speak no English, and she no French. Finally, a
passenger took pity on the man, and, as the light was really
a grave danger to the ship's safety, promised to speak to the
woman, who insisted that she was not afraid of submarines
and that it was foolish to think they could see her light.

" Madam," he said, " the quartermaster here tells me
that the sea in this locality is infested with flying fish, who,
like moths, fly straight for any light, and he is afraid that if
you leave your porthole open they will dive in upon you
during the night."

If he had said that the sea was infested with flying
mice, his statement could not have been more effective.
Thereafter the porthole stayed closed.

When the first man died on board, the Captain com-
manding the soldiers and the ship's Captain requested a
Salvation Army Adjutant to conduct the funeral service.

At 4.30 P.M. the ship's propeller ceased to turn and
the steamer came up into the wind. The United States
destroyer acting as convoy also came to a halt. The French
flag on the steamer and the American flag on the destroyer

THE SALVATION ARMY 85

were at half-mast. Thirty-two men from the dead man's
company lined np on the after-deck. The coffin (a rough
pine box), heavily weighted at one end, lay across the rail
over the stern. Here a chute had been rigged so that the
cofiin might not foul the ship's screws. The flags remained
at half-mast for half an hour. The Salvation Army Adju-
tant read the burial service and prayed. Passengers on the
promenade deck looked on. Then a bugler played taps.
Every soldier stood facing the stern with hat off and held
across the breast. As the coffin slipped down the chute and
splashed into the sea a firing squad fired a single rattling
volley. The ship came about and, with a shudder of start-
ing engines, continued her voyage, the destroyer doing
likewise.

During the passage the Adjutant conducted six such
funerals, two more being conducted by a Catholic priest.
Four more bodies of men who died as they neared port
were landed and buried ashore.

In the hospital the Envoy was undoubtedly the means
of saving several lives by her endless toil and by the en-
couragement of her cheerful face in that depressing place.
The sick men called her " Mother '' and no mother could
have been more tender than she.

'^You look so much like mother," said one boy just
before he died. " Won't you please kiss me ? "

Another lad, with a great, convulsive effort, drew her
hand to his lips and kissed her just as he passed away.

All of the American officers and two French officers
attended the funerals in full dress uniform and ten sailors
of the French navy were also present.

The night before the ship docked at Bordeaux a letter
signed by the Captain of the ship and the American officers
was handed to the Envoy lady. It contained a warm state-

86 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

ment of their appreciation of her service. Officers of the
Aviation Corps who were aboard the ship arranged a ban-
quet to be held in her honor when they should reach port ;
but she told them that she was undir orders even as they
were and that she must report to Paris Headquarters at
once. And so the banquet did not take place.

As she left the ship, the soldiers were lined up on the
wharf ready to march. When she came down the gang-
plank and walked past them to the street, they cheered her
and shouted : ^' Good-bye, mother ! Good luck ! ''

As the fame of the doughnuts and pies spread through
the camps a new distress loomed ahead for the Salvation
'Army. Where were the flour and the sugar and the lard
and the other ingredients to come from wherewith to
concoct these delicacies for the homesick soldiers?

It was of no use to go to the French for white flour,
for they did not have it. They had been using war bread,
dark mixtures with barley flour and other things, for a
long time. Besides, the French had a fixed idea that every-
one who came from America was made of money. Wood
w^as thirty-five dollars a load (about a cord) and had to
be cut and hauled by the purchaser at that. There was a
story current throughout the camps that some French-
men were talking together among themselves, and one asked
the rest where in the world they were going to get the
money to rebuild their towns. ^^ Oh," replied another;
*^ haven't we the only battlefields in the world? All the
Americans will want to come over after the war to see them
and we will charge them enough for the sight to rebuild
our villages ! "

But even at any price the French did not have the
materials to sell. There was only one place where things
of that sort could be had and that was from the Americans,

THE^SALVATION ARMY 87

and the question was, would the commissary allow them to
buy in large enough quantities to be of any use? The
Salvation Army officers as they went about their work,
were puzzling their brains how to get around the American
commissary and get what they wanted.

Meantime, the American Army had slipped quietly into
Montiers in the night and been billeted around in bams and
houses and outhouses, and anywhere they could be stowed,
and were keeping out of sight. For the German High
Council had declared: "As soon as the American Army
goes into camp we will blow thean off the map.*'

Day after day the Germans lay low and watched. Their
airplanes flew oTer and kept close guard, but they could
find no sign of a camp anywhere. N"o tents were in sight,
though they searched the landscape carefully; and day
after day, for want of something better to do they bom-
barded Bar-1&-Duc. Eyery day some new rarishment of
the beautiful city was wrought, new victims buried under
ruins, new terror and destruction, until the whole region
was in panic and dismay.

Now Bar-le-Duc, as everyone knows, is the home of
the famous Bar-le-Duc jam that brings such high prices
the world over, and there were great quantities stored up
and waiting to be sold at a high price to Americans after
the war. B'at when the bombardment continued, and it
became evident that the whole would either be destroyed or
fall into the hands of the Germans, the owners were fright-
ened. Houses were blown up, burying whole families.
Victims were being taken hourly from the ruins, injured
or dying.

A Salvation Army Adjutant ran up there one day with
his truck and found an awful state of things. The whole
place was full of refugees, families bereft of their homes.

88 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

everybody' that could trying to get out of the city. Just
by accident he found out that the merchants were willing
to sell their jam at a very reasonable price, and so he
bought tons and tons of Bar-le-Duc jam. That would help
out a lot and go well on bread, for of course there was no
butter. Also it would make wonderful pies and tarts if one
only had the flour and other ingredients.

As he drove into Montiers he was still thinking about
it, and there on the table in the Salvation Army hut stood
as pretty a chocolate cake as one would care to see. A
bright idea came to the Adjutant :

" Let me have that cake/' said he to the lassie who had
baked it, " and I'll take it to the General and see what I
can do."

It turned out that the cake was promised, but the lassie
said she would bake another and have it ready for him on
his return trip ; so in a few days when he ca;me back there
was the cake.

Ah ! That was a wonderful cake !

The lasisie had baked it in the covers of lard tins, four-
teen inches across anid five layers high ! There was a layer of
cake, thickly spread with rich chocolate frosting, another
layer of cake, overlaid with the translucent Bar-le-Duc
jam, a third layer of cake with chocolate, another layer
spread with Bar-le-Duc jam, then cake again, the whole
covered smoothly over with thick dark chocolate, top and
sides, down to the very base, without a ripple in it. It was
a wonder of a cake !

With shining eyes and eager look the Adjutant took
that beautiful eake, took also twelve hundred great brown
sugary doughnuts, and a dozen fragrant apple pies just out
of the oven, stowed them carefully away in his truck, and
rustled off to the Officers' Headquarters. Arrived there he
took his cake in hand and asked to see the General. An

THE SALVATION ARMY 89

officer "with his eye on the caJ^e said the General was busy
just now but he would carry the cake to him. But the
Adjutant declined this offer firmly, saying : " The ladies of
Montiers-sur-Saulx sent this cake to the General, and I
must put it into his hands/'

He was finally led to the General's room and, uncov-
ering the great cake, he said :

"The Salvation Army ladies of Montiers-sur-Saulx
have sent this cake to you as a sample of what they will
do for the soldiers if we can get flour and sugar and lard.'^

The General, greatly pleased, took the cake and sent for
a knife, while his officers stood about looking on with much
interest. It appeared as if every one were to have a taste
of the cake. But when the General had cut a generous
slice, held it up, observing its cunning workmanship, its
translucent, delectable interior, he turned with a gleam in
his eye, looked about the room and said : " Gentlemen, this
cake will not be served till the evening's mess, and I pity
the gentlemen who do not eat with the officer's mess, but
they will have to go elsewhere for their cake."

The Adjutant went out with his pies and doughnuts
and distributed them here and there where they would do
the most good, getting on the right side of the Top Sergeant,
for he had discovered some time ago that even with the
General as an ally one must be on the right side of the
^' old Sarge " if one wanted anything. While he was still
talking with the officers he was handed an order from the
General that he should be supplied with all that he needed,
and when he finally came out of Headquarters he found
that seven tons of material were being loaded on his car.
After that the Salvation Army never had any trouble in
getting all the material they needed.

After the tents in Montiers were all settled and tlie

90 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

woxk fully started, the Staff- Captain and his helpers set-
tled down to a pleasant little schedule of sixteen hours
a day work and called it ease; but that was not to be en-
joyed for long. At the end of a week the Salvation Army
Colonel swooped down upon them again with orders to erect
a hut at once as the tents were only a makeshift and winter
was coming on. He brought materials and selected a site on
a desirable comer.

Now the corner was literally coYered with fallen walls
of a former building and wTeckage from the last year's
raid, and the patient workers looked aghast at the task
before them. But the Colonel would listen to no arguments.

" Don^t talk about difficulties," he said, brushing aside
a plea for another lot, not quite so desirable perhaps, but
much easier to clear. " Don't talk about difficulties ; get
busy and have the job over with ! "

One big reason why the Salvation Army is able to carry
on the great machinery of its vast organization is that its
people are trained to obey without murmuring.

Cheerfully and laboriously the men set to work. Winter
rains were setting in, with a chill and intensity never to be
forgotten by an American soldier. But wet to the skin
day after day all day long the Salvationists worked against
time, trying to finish the hut before the snow should arrive.
And at last the hut was finished and ready for occupancy.

Such tireless devotion, such patient, cheerful toil for
their sake was not to be passed by nor forgotten by the
soldiers who watched and helped when they could. Day
after day the bonds between them and the Salvation Army
•grew stronger. Here were men who did not have to, and
yet who for the sake of helping them, came and lived under

THE SALVATION ARMY 91

the same conditions that they did, working even longer
hours than they, eating the same food, enduring the same
privations, and whose only pay was their expenses.

At the first the Salvationists took their places in the
chow line with the rest, then little by little men near the
head of the line would give up their places to them, quietly
stepping to the rear of the line themselves. Finally, no
matter how long the line was the men with one consent
insisted that their unselfish friends should take the very
head of the line whenever they came and always be served
first.

One day one of the Salvation Army men swathed in a
big raincoat was sitting in a Ford by the roadside in front
of a Salvation Army hut, waiting for his Colonel, when
two soldiers stopped behind him to light their cigarettes.
It was just after sundown, an'd the man in the car must
have seemed like any soldier to the two as they chatted.

^^ Bunch of grafters, these Y. M. C. A. and Salvation
Army outfits ! ^' grumbled one as he struck a match. " What
good are the ^ Sallies ^ in a soldier camp ? "

"Well, Buddy,^' said the other somewhat excitedly,
" there's a whole lot of U5 think the Salvation Army is
about it in this man's outfit. For a rookie you sure are
picking one good way to make yourself unpopular tout de
suite! Better lay off that kind of talk until you kind of
find out what's what. I didn't have much use for them
myseK back in the States, but here in France they're real
folks, believe me ! "

So the feeling had grown everywhere as the huts multi-
plied. And the huts proved altogether too small for the
religious taeetings, so that as long as the weather permit-
ted the services had to be held in the open air. It was no
unusual thing to see a thousand men gathered in the twi-

92 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

light aroimd two or three Salvation Army lassies, sing-
ing in sweet wonderful volume the old, old hymns. The
soldiers were no longer amused spectators, bent on mis-
chief ; they were enthusiastic allies of the organization that
was theirs. The meeting was theirs.

^^ We never forced a meeting on them,^' said one of the
girls. " We jusit let it grow. Sometimes it would begin
with popular songs, but before long the boys would ask
for hymns, the old favorites, first one, then another, al-
ways remembering to call for '' Tell Mother I'll Be There."

Almost without exception the boys entered heartily into
everything that went on in the organization. The songs
were perhaps at first only a reminder of home, but soon
they came to' have a personal significance to many. The
Salvation Army did not have movies and theatrical singers
as did the other organizations, but they did not seem to
need them. The men liked the Gospel meetings and came
to them better than to anything else. Often they would
come to the hut and start the singing themselves, which
would presently grow into a meeting of evident intention.

The Staff-Captain did not long have opportunity to
enjoy the new hut which he had labored so hard to finish
at Montiers, for soon orders arrived for him to move on
to Houdelainecourt to help put up the hut there, and leave
Montiers in charge of a Salvation Army Major.

The Salvation Army was with the Eighteenth Infantry
at Houdelainecourt.

It was an old tent that sheltered the canteen, and it
had the reputation of having gone up and down five times.
When first they put it up it blew down. It was located
where iwo roads met and the winds swept down in every
direction. Then they put it up and took it down to camou-
flage it. They got it up again and had to take it down

THE SALVATION ARMY 93

to camouflage it some more. The regular division helped
with this, and it was some camouflage when it was done,
for the boys had put their initials all over it, and then,
had painted Christmas trees everywhere, and on the trees
they had put the presents they knew tliey never would get,
and so in all the richness of its record of homesickness the
old tent went up again. They kept warm here by means
of a candle under an upturned tin pail. The tent blew
down again in a big storm soon after that and had to be put
up once more, and then there came a big rain and flooded
everything in the neighborhood. It blew down and
dro\\Tied out the Y. M. C. A. and everything else, and only
the old tent stood for awhile. But at last the storm was
too much for it, too, and it succumbed again.

After that the Salvation Army put up a hut for their
work. A number of soldiers assisted. They put up a
stove, brought their piano and phonograph, and made the
place look cheerful. Then they got the regimental band and
had an opening, the first big thing that was recognized by
the military authorities. The Salvation Army Staff-Cap-
tain in charge of that zone took a long board and set candles
on it and put it above the platform like a big chandelier.
The Brigade Commander was there, and a Captain came
to represent the Colonel. A chaplain spoke. The lassies
who took part in the entertainment were the first girls the
soldiers had seen for many months.

Long before the hour announced for the service the sol-
dier boys had crowded the hutment to its greatest capacity.
Game and reading tables had been moved to the rear and
extra benches brought in. The men stood three deep upon
the tables and filled every seat and every inch of stand-
ing room. When there was no more room on the floor, they
climbed to the roof and lined the rafters. There was no

94 THE WAR RO^IANCE OF

air and tlie Adjutant came to say there was too much light,
but none of these things damped the enthusiasm.

With the aid of the regimental chaplain, the Staff-
Captain had arranged a suitable program for the occasion,
the regimental band furnishing the music.

When the General entered the hutment all of the men
stood and uncovered and the band stopped abruptly in the
middle of a strain. " That's the worst thing I ever did —
stopping the music/' he exclaimed ruefully. He refused
to occupy the chair which had been prepared for him, say-
ing : " Ko, I want to stand so that I can look at these
men."

The records of the work in that hut would be precious
reading for the fathers and mothers of those boys, for the
Fighting Eighteenth Infantry are mostly gone, having laid
their young lives on the altar with so many others.

Here is a bit from one lassie's letter, giving a picture
of one of her days in the hut :

" Well, I must tell you how the days are spent. We opven the
hut at 7; it is cleaned by some of the boys; then at 8 we com-
mence to serve cocoa and coffee and make pies and doughnuts,
cup cakes and fry egga and make all kinds of eats until it is all
you see. Well, can you think of two women cooking in one day
2500 doughnuts, 8 dozen cup cakes, 50 pies, 800 pancakes
and 225 gallons of cocoa, and one other girl serving it ? That is a
day's work in my last hut. Then meeting at night, and it lasts
two hours."

A lieutenant came into the canteen to buy something
and said to one of the girls : " Will you please tell me some-
thing ? Don't you ever rest ? " That is how both the men
and officers appreciated the work of these tireless girls.

Men often walked miles to look at an American woman.
Once acquainted with the Salvation Army lassies they came

THE SALVATION ARMY 95

to them with many and strange requests. Having picked
a quart or so of wild berries and purchased from a farmer
a pint of creajn they would come to ask a girl to make a
strawberry shortcake for them. They would buy a whole
dozen of eggs apiece, and having begged a Salvation Army
girl to fry them would eat the whole dozen at a sitting.
They would ask the girls to write their love letters, or to
write assuring some mother or sweetheart that they were
behaving themselves.

Soldiers going into action have left thousands of dol-
lars in cash and in valuables in the care of Salvation Army
officers to be forwarded to persons designated in case they
are killed in action or taken prisoner. In such cases it
is very seldom that a receipt is given for either money or
valuables, so deeply do the soldiers trust the Salvation
Army.

One of the girl Captains wears a plain silver ring, whose
intrinsic value is about thirty cents, but whose moral value
is beyond estimate. The ring is not the Captain's. It be-
longs to a soldier, who, before the war, had been a hard
drinker ajid had continued his habits after enlisting. He
came under the influence of the Salvation Army and swore
that he would drink no more. But time after time he fell,
each time becoming more desperate and more discouraged.
Each time the young lassie-Captain dealt with him. After
the lafit of his failures, while she was encouraging him to
make another try, he detached the ring from the cord from
which it had dangled around his neck and thrust it at her.

" It was my mother's," he explained. " If you will wear
it for me, I shall always think of it when the temptation
comes to drink, and the fact that someone really cares
enough about my worthless hide to take all of the trouble
you have taken on my behalf, will help me to resist it.''

96 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

^^ No one will misunderstand/' he cried, seeing tbat the
lassie was about to decline, " not even me. I shall tell no
one. And it would help."

"Very well/' agreed the girl, looking steadily at him
for a moment, " but the first time that you take a drink,
off will come the ring ! And you must promise that you
will tell me if you do take that drink."

The soldier promised. The lassie still wears the ring.
The soldier is still sober. Also he has written to his wife
for the first time in five years and she has expressed her
delight at the good news.

On more than one occasion American aviators have
flown from their camps many miles to villages where there
were Salvation lassies and have returned with a load of
doughnuts. On one occasion a bird-man dropped a note
down in front of the hut where two sisters were stationed,
circling around at a low elevation until certain that the
girls had picked up the note, which stated that he would
return the following afternoon for a mess of doughnuts for
his comrades. When he returned, the doughnuts were
ready for him.

The Adjutant of the aerial forces attached to the Ameri-
can Fifth Army around Montfaucon on the edge of the
Argonne Forest, before that forest was finally captured at
the point of American bayonets, drove almost seventy miles
to the Salvation Army Headquarters at Ligny for supplies
for his men. He was given an automobile load of chocolate,
candies, cakes, cookies, soap, toilet articles, and other com-
forts, without charge. He said that he knew that the Sal-
vation Army would have what he wanted.

The two lassies who were in Bure had a desperate time
of it. Things were most primitive. They had no stove,
just an old travelling field range, and for a canteen one

THE SALVATION ARMY 97

end of Battery F 's kitchen. They were then attached to
the Sixth Field Artillery. This was the regiment that
fired the first shot into Germany.

The smoke in that kitchen was awful and continuous
from the old field range. The girls often made douglmuts
out-of-doors, and they got chilblains from standing in the
snow. All the company had chilblains, too, and it was a
sorry crowd. Then the girls got the mumps. It was so
cold here, especially at night, they often had to sleep with
their clothes on. There was only one way they could have
meetings in that place and that was while the men were
lined up for chow near to the canteen. They would start
to sing in the gloomy, cold room, the men and girls all with
their overcoats on, and fingers so cold that they could hardly
play the concertina, for there was no fire in the big room
save from the range at one end where they cooked. Then
the girls would talk to them while they were eating. Per-
haps they did not call these meetings, but they were a
mighty happy time to the men, and they liked it.

A minister who had taken six months' leave of absence
from his church to do Y. M. C. A. work in France asked
one of the boys why he liked the Salvation Army girls and
he said : " Because they always take time to cheer' us up.
It's true they do knock us mighty hard about our sins,
but while it hurts they always show us a way out." The
minister told some one that if he had his work to do over
again he would plan it along the lines of the Salvation
Army work.

You may hear it urged that one reason the boys liked

the Salvation Army people so much was because they did

not preach, but it is not so. They preached early and

often, but the boys liked it because it was done so simply,

7

98 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

«o consistently and so unselfishly, tliat they did not recog-
nize it as preaching.

In lienaucourt as Christmas was coming on some
United States officers raised money to give the little refugee
children a Christmas treat. There was to be a tree with
presents, and good things to eat, and an entertainment
with recitations from the children. The school-teacher was
teaching the children their pieces, and there was a general
air of delightful excitement everywhere. It was expected
that the affair was to be held in the Catholic church at first,
but the priest protested that this was unseemly, so they
were at a loss what to do. The school-house was not large
enough.

The Salvation Army Staff- Captain found this out and
suggested to the officers tliat the Salvation Army hut was
the very place for such a gathering. So the tree was set
up, and the officers went to town and bought presents and
decorations. They covered the old hut with boughs and
flags and transformed it into a wonderland for the chil-
dren. The officers were struggling helplessly with the
decorations of the tree when the Salvation Army man hap-
pened in and they asked him to help.

" Why, sure ! " he said heartily. " That's my regular
work ! '' So they eagerly put it into his hands and de-
parted. The Staff-Captain worked so hard at it and grew
so interested in it that he forgot to go for his chow at lunch-
time, and when supper-time came the hall was so crowded
and there was so much stiU to be done that he could not get
away to get his supper. But it was a grand and glorious
time. The place was packed. There were two American
Colonels, a French Colonel, and several French officers.

The soldiers crowded in and they had to send them out
again, poor fellows, to make room for the children, but

THE SALVATION ARMY 99

they hung aroimd the doors and windows eager to see it all.

The regimental band played, there were recitations in
French and a good time generally.

The seats were facing the canteen where the supplies
were all stocked neatly, boxes of candy and cakes and good
things. The Colonel in charge of the regiment looked over
to them wistfully and said to the Staff-Captain : " Are you
going to sell all those things?^' The Staff-Captain, with
quick appreciation, said : " No, Colonel, Christmas comes
but once a year and there's a present up there for you."
And the Colonel seemed as pleased as the children when
the Staff- Captain handed him a big box of candy all tied
up in Christmas ribbons.

In the huts, phonographs are never silent as long as
there is a single soldier in the place. One night two of the
Salvation Army girls, who slept in the back room of a cer-
tain hut, had closed up for the night and retired. They
were awakened by the sound of the phonograph, and won-
dered how anyone got into the hut and who it might hap-
pen to be. They were a little bit nervous, but went to in-
vestigate. They found that a soldier on guard had raised a
window, and although this did not allow him room to enter
the hut, he was able to reach the table where the phono-
graph stood. He had turned the talking machine around so
that it faced the window, and, placing a record in position,
had started it going. He was leaning up against the outer
wall of the hut, smoking a, cigarette in the moonlight, and
enjoying his concert. The girls returned to bed without
disturbing the audience.

One of the most popular French confections sold in the
huts was a variety of biscuits known under the trade name
of '^ Boudoir Biscuits." One day a soldier entered a hut
and said : *^ Say, miss, I want some of them there — them

100 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

there — Dang me if I can remember them French na-mes ! —
them there (suddenly a great light dawned) — ^some of
them there bedroom cookies/' And the lassie got what he
wanted.

The Salvation Army men who worked among the sol-
diers in advanced positions from which all women are
barred are among the heroes of the war. Here during the
day they labored in dugouts far below the shell-tortured
earth, often going out at night to help bring in the
^wounded ; always in danger from shells and gas ; some with
the ammunition trains ; others driving supply trucks ; still
others attached to units and accompanying the fighting
men wherever they went, even to the active combat of the
firing trench and the attack. These are unofficial chap-
lains. Such a one was ^' La Petit Major/' as the soldiers
called him, because of his smallness of stature.

The Little Major commenced his service in the field
with the Twenty-sixth Infantry, First Division, at Menau-
court. Soon he was transferred to command the hut at
Boviolles. At this place was the battalion of the Twenty-
sixth Infantry, commanded by Major Theodore Eoosevelt.
His brother, Captain Archie Roosevelt, commanded a com-
pany in this battalion. He was for the greater part of the
time alone in the work at Boviolles.

By his consistent life and character and his willingness
to serve both men and officers, he won their esteem.

When they left the training area for the trenches the
Major was requested to go with them. He turned the key
in the canteen door and went off with them across France
and never came back, establishing himself in the front-line
trenches with the men and acting as unofiiciai chaplain to
the battalion.

THE SALVATION ARMY 101

There is an interesting incident in connection with his
introduction to Major Koosevelt's notice.

For some reason the Salvation Army had been made
to feel that they were not welcome with that division. But
the Little Major did not give up like that, and he lingered
about feeling that somehow there was yet to be a work for
him there.

A young private from a far Western state, a fellow who,
according to all reports, had never been of any account at
home, was convicted of a most horrible murder and con-
demned to die by hanging because the commanding officer
said that shooting was too good for him.

He accepted his fate with sullen ugliness. He would
not speak to anyone and he was so violent that they had to
put him in chains. No one could do anything with him.
He had to be watched day and night ; and it was awful to
see him die this way with his sin unconfessed. Many at-
tempts were made to break through his silence, but all to
no effect. Several chaplains visited him, but he would
have nothing to do with them.

On the morning of his execution, to the surprise of
everybody he said that he had heard that there was a S^al-
vation Army man around and he would like to see him.
The authorities sent and searched everywhere for the Little
Major, and some thought he must have left, but they found
him at last and he came at once to the desperate man.

The criminal sat crouched on his hard bench, chained
hand and foot. He did not look up. He was a dreadful
sight, his brutal face haggard, unshaven, his eyes bloodshot,
his whole appearance almost like some low animal.
Through the shadowy prison darkness the Little Major
crept to those chains, those symbols of the man's degrada-
tion ; and still the man did not look up.

102 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

"You must be in great trouble, brother. Can I help
you any ? " asked the Little Major with a wonderful Christ-
like compassion in his voice.

The man lifted his bleared eyes under the shock of im-
kempt hair, and spoke, startled :

** You call me brother ! You know what I'm here for
and you call me brother ! Why ? '^

The little Major's voice was steady and sweet as he
leplied without hesitation :

*^ Because I know a great deal about the suffering of
Christ on the Cross, all because He loved you so ! Because
I know He said He was wounded for your transgressions.
He was bruised for your iniquities! Because I know He
«aid, ' Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white
as enow, though they be red like crimson they shall be as
wool ! ' So why shouldn't I call you brother ? "

" Oh," said the man with a groan of agony and big
tears rolKng down his face. '* Could I be made a better
man?"

Then they went down on their knees together beside
the hard bench, the man in chains and the man of God,
and the Little Major prayed such a wonderful prayer,
taking the poor soul right to the foot of the Throne ; and
in a few minutes the man was confessing his sin to God.
Then he suddenly looked up and exclaimed :

" It's true, what you said ! Christ has pardoned me !
Ifow I can die like a man ! "

With that great pardon written across his heart he
actually went to his death with a smile upon his face.
When the Chaplain asked him if he had anything to 6ay he
publicly thanked the military authorities and the Salvation
Army for what they had done for him.

The Colonel, greatly surprised at the change in the

THE SALVATION ARMY 103

man, sent to find out how it came about and later sent to
thank the Little Major. Two days later Major Rooseyelt
came in person to thank him :

*^ I knew that someone who knew how to deal with men
had got hold of him/^ he said, " but I almost doubted the
evidence of my own eyes when I saw how cheerfully he went
to his death, it all seemed too wonderful ! ''

The little Major was with this battalion in all of iti
engagements, and on several occasions went orer the top
with the men and devoted himself to first aid to the
wounded and to bringing the men back to the dressing
station on stretchers. Between the times of active engage-
ments, the Major gave himself to supplying the needs of
the men and made daily trips out of the trenches to obtain
newspapers, writing material, and to perform errands wliick
they could not do for themselves.

One of the lieutenants said of him : ^' He is worth more
than all the chaplains that were ever made in the United
States Army. He will walk miles to get the most trivial
article for either man or officer. The men know that he
loves them or he would not go into the trenches with them,
for he does not have to go. You can tell the world for me
that he is a real man ! "

One of the fellows said of him he had seen him take off
his shoes and bring away pieces of flesh from the awful
blisters got from much tramping.

The men soon learned to love their gray haired Salva-
tion Army comrade. When an enemy attack was to be met
with cold steel he was the first to follow the company offi-
cers " over the top,'^ to cheer and encourage the onrushing
Americans in the anxious semi-calm which follows the
lifting of a barrage. A non-combatant, unarmed and fifty-
three years of age, he was always in the van of the fierce

104 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

onslaught with which our men repulsed the enemy, ready
to pray with the dying or help bring in the wounded, and
always fearless no matter what the conditions. By his un-
f earing heroism as well as his willingness to share the hard-
ships and dangers of the men, he so won their confidence
that it was frequently said that they would not go into
battle except the Major was with them. The men would
crouch around him with an almost fantastic confidence that
where he was no harm could come. Knowing that many
earnest Christian people were praying for his safety and
having seen how safely he and those with him had come
through dangers, they thought his very presence was a pro-
tection. Who shall say that God did not stay on the battle-
field living and speaking through the Little Major ?

When the first division was moved from the Montdidier
Sector he travelled with the men as far as they went by
train. When they detrained and marched he marched with
them, carrying his seventy pound pack as any soldier did.
He was by the side of Captain Archie Roosevelt when he
received a very dangerous wound from an exploding shell,
and was in the battle of Cantigny in the Montdidier Sector,
where his company lost only two men killed and four
wounded, while other companies' losses were much more
severe.

Protestant, Catholic and Jew were all his friends. One
Catholic boy came crawling along in the waist-deep trench
one day to tell the Major about his spiritual worries. After
a brief talk the Major asked him if be had his prayer book.
The boy said yes. "Then take it out and read it," said
the Major. " God is here ! " And there in the narrow
trench with lowered heads so that the snipers could not see
them, they knelt together and read from the Catholic prayer
book.

THE SALVATION ARMY 105

In one American attack the Little Major followed the
Lieutenant over the top just as the barrage was lifted. The
Lieutenant looking back saw him struggling over the crest
of the parapet, laughed and shouted : " Go back, Major, you
haven't even a pistol ! '^ But the Major did not go back.
He went with the boys. " I have no hesitancy in laying
down my life," he once said, " if it will help or encourage
anyone else to live in a better or cleaner way.^^

He was always striving for the salvation of his boys,
and in his meetings men would push their way to the front
and openly kneel before their comrades registering their
determination to live in accordance with the teachings of
Jesus. One tells of seeing him kneel beside an empty
crate with three soldiers praying for their souls.

It was because of all these things that the men believed
in him and in his God. He used to say to the men in the
meetings, " We are not afraid because we have a sense of
the presence of God right here with us ! '^

One night the battalion was " in '^ after a heavy day's
work strengthening the defenses and trying to drain the
trenches, and the men were asleep in the dugouts. The
Major lay in his little chicken-wire bunk, just drowsing
off, while the water seeped and dripped from the earthen
roof, and the rats splashed about on the water covered floor.

Across from him in a bunk on the other side of the
dugout tossed a boy in his damp blankets who had just come
to the front. He was only eighteen and it was his first
night in the line. It had been a hard day for him. The
shells screamed overhead and finally one landed close some-
where and rocked the dugout with its explosion.

The old-timers slept undisturbed, but the boy started
up with a scream and a groan, his nerves a-quiver, and cried
out : " Oh, Daddy ! Daddy ! Daddy ! ''

106 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

The Little Major was out and over to him in a flash, and
gathered the boy into his arms, soothing him as a mother
might have done, until he was calmed and strengthened;
and there amid the roaring of guns, the screaming of shells,
the dripping of water and splashing of rats, the youngest of
the battalion found Christ.

An old soldier came down from the front and a Salva-
tionist asked him if he knew the Little Major.

^^ Well, you just bet I know the Major — sure thing ! ''
And the Major is always on hand with a laugh and his
fun-making. In the trenches or in the towns, where the
shells are flying, the Little Major is with his boys. No
words of mine could express the admiration the boys have
for him. The boys love him. He calls them "Buddie."
They salute and are ready to do or die. The last time I
saw him he had hiked in from the trenches with the boys.
He carried a heavy " war baby " on his back and a tin hat
on his head. He was tired and footsore, but there was that
laugh, and before he got his pack off he jabbed me in the
ribs. " No, sir, we can't get along without our Major ! "
So says " Buddie.''

A request came from a chaplain to open Salvation Army
work near his division. The Brigade Commander was most
favorable to the suggestion until he learned that the Sal-
vation Army would have women there and that religious
meetings would be conducted. As this was explained the
General's manner changed and he declared he did not know
that the work was to be carried on in this way ; that he did
not favor the women in camps, or any religion, but thought
it would make the soldier soft, and the business of the
soldier was to kill, to kill in as brutal a manner as possible ;

THE SALVATION ARMY 107

and to kill as many of the enemy as possible ; and he did not
propose to have any work conducted in the camps or any
influence on his soldiers that would tend to soften them.

He ordered them, therefore, not to extend the work of the
Salvation Army within his brigade. It was explained to
him that Demange was now within the territory named.
He appeared to be put out that the Salvation Army was
already established in his district, but said that if they be-
haved themselves they could go on, but that they must not
extend.

He reported the matter to the Divisional Headquarters
and an investigation of the Salvation Army activities was
ordered. A major who was a Jew was appointed to look
into the matter. During the next two weeks he talked with
the men and officers and attended Salvation Army meet-
ings. The leaders, of course, knew nothing about this, but
they could not have planned their meetings better if they
had known. It seemed as though God was in it all. At the
end of two weeks there came a written communication from
the General stating that after a thorough examination of
the Salvation Army work he withdrew his objections and
the Salvation Army was free to extend operations anywhere
within his brigade.

The Salvation Army hut was a scene of constant activity.

At one place in a single day there was early mass, said
by the Catholic chaplain, later preaching by a Protestant
chaplain, then a Jewish service, followed by a company
meeting where the use of gas masks was explained. All
this, besides the regular uses of the hut, which included a
library, piano, phonograph, games, magazines, pies, dough-
nuts and coffee; the pie line being followed by a regular
Salvation Army meeting where men raised their hands to
be prayed for, and many found Christ as their Saviour.

108 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

It was in an old French barracks that they located the
Salvation Army canteen in Treveray. One corner was
boarded off for a bedroom for the girls. There were windows
but not of glass, for they would have soon been shattered,
and, too, they would have let too much light through. They
were canvas well camouflaged with paint so that the enemy
shells would not be attracted at night, and, of course, one
could not see through them.

Inside the improvised bedroom were three little folding
army cots, a board table, a barrack bag and some boxes.
This was the only place where the girls could be by them-
selves. On rainy days the furniture was supplemented by
a dishpan on one cot, a frying-pan on another, and a lard
tin on the third, to catch the drops from the holes in the
roof. The opposite corner of the barracks was boarded off
for a living-room. In this was a field range and one or two
tables and benches.

The rest of the hut was laid out with square bare board
tables. The canteen was at one end. The piano was at one
side and the graphophone at the other. Sometimes in
places like this, the hut would be too near the front for it to
be thought advisable to have a piano. It was too liable to
be shattered by a chance shell and the management thought
it unwise to put so much money into what might in a
moment be reduced to worthless splinters. Then the boys
would come into the hut, look around disappointedly and
say : " No piano ? '^

The cheerful woman behind the counter would say sym-
pathetically : " No, boys, no piano. Too many shells around
here for a piano.^'

The boys would droop around silently for a minute or
two and then go off. In a little while back they would come
with grim satisfaction on their faces bearing a piano.

THE SALVATION ARMY 109

** Don't ask us where we got it/' they would answer with
a twinkle in reply to the pleased inquiry. " This is war !
We salvaged it ! ''

Around the room on the tables were plenty of magazines,
books and games. Checkers was a favorite game. No card
playing, no shooting crap. The canteen contained choco-
late, candy, writing materials, postage stamps, towels,
shaving materials, talcum powder, soap, shoestrings, hand-
kerchiefs in little sealed packets, buttons, cootie medicine
and other like articles. The Salvation Army did not sell
nor give away either tobacco or cigarettes. In a few cases
where such were sent to them for distribution they were
handed over to the doctors for the badly wounded in the
hospitals or the very sick men accustomed to their use,
who were almost insane with their nerves. They also
procured them from the Red Cross for wounded men, some-
times, who were fretting for them, but they never were a
part of their supplies and far from the policy of the
Salvation Army. Furthermore, the Salvation Army sent
no men to France to work for them who smoked or used
tobacco in any form, or drank intoxicating liquors. No
man can hold a commission in the Salvation Army and
use tobacco ! It is a remarkable fact that the boys them-
selves did not want the Salvation Army lassies to deal in
cigarettes because they knew it would be going against their
principles to do so.

Occasionally a stranger would come into the canteen
and ask for a package of cigarettes. Then some soldier
would remark witheringly : " Say, where do you come from ?
(Don't you know the Salvation Army don't handle tobacco ? "

The men were always deeply grateful to get talcum
powder for use after shaving. It seemed somehow to help

no THE WAR ROMANCE OF

to keep up the morale of the army, that talcum powder, a
little bit of the soothing refinement of the home that seemed
80 far away.

To this hut whenever they were at liberty came Jew
and Gentile, Protestant and Catholic, rich and poor. War
is a great leveler and had swept away aU differences. They
were a great brotherhood of Americans now, ready, if neces-
sary, to die for the right.

To one of the huts came a request from the chaplain of
a regiment which was about to move from its temporary bil-
let in the next village. The men had not been so fortunate
as to be stationed at a town where there was a Salvation
Army hut and it had been over four months since they had
tasted anything like cake or pie. Would the Salvation
Army lassies be so good as to let them have a few dough-
nuts before they moved that night? If so the chaplain
would call for them at five o'clock.

The lassies worked with all their might and fried
thirty-five hundred doughnuts. But something happened
to the ambulance that was to take them to the boys, and
over an hour was lost in repairs. Back at the camp the
boys had given up all hope. They were to march at eight
o'clock and nothing had been heard of the doughnuts.
Suddenly the truck dashed into view, but the boys eyed it
glumly, thinking it was likely empty after all this time.
However, the chaplain held up both hands full of golden
brown beauties, and with a wild shout of joy the men
sprang to " attention " as the ambulance drew up, and more
soldiers crowded around. The villagers rushed to their
doors to see what couid be happening now to those crazy
American soldiers.

When the chaplain stood up in the car flinging dough-
nuts to them and shouting that there were thousands.

THE SALVATION ARMY 111

enough for everybody, the enthusiasm of the soldiers knew
no bounds. The girls had come along and now they began
to hand out the doughnuts, and the crowd cheered and
shouted as they filed up to receive them. And when it came
time for the girls to return to their own village the soldiers
crowded up once more to say good-bye, and give them three
cheers and a " tiger."

These same girls a few days before had fed seven hun-
dred weary doughboys on their march to the front with
coffee, hot biscuits and jam.

In one of the Salvation Army huts one night the usual
noisy cheerfulness was in the air, but apart from the rest sat
a boy with a letter open on the table before him and a
dreamy smile of tender memories upon his face. Nobody
noticed that far-away look in his eyes until the lassie in
charge of the hut, standing in the doorway surveying her
noisy family, searched him out with her discerning eyes, and
presently happened dovm his way and inquired if he had a
letter. The boy looked up with a wonderful smile such as
she had never seen on his face before, and answered :

" Yes, it's from mother ! '' Then impulsively, " She's
the nearest throg to God I know ! "

Mother seemed to be the nearest thought to the heart
of the boys over there. They loved the songs best that spoke
about mother. One boy bought a can of beans at the
canteen, and when remonstrated with by the lassie who sold
them, on the ground that he was always complaining of
having to eat so miany beans, he replied : '' Aw, well, this is
different. These beans are the kiad that mother used
to buy."

In the dark hours of the early morning a boy who be-
longed to the ammunition train sat by one of the little

112 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

wooden tables in the hut, just after he had returned from
his first barrage, and pencilled on its top the following
words:

Mother o' mine, what the words mean to me

Is more than tongue can say;
For one view to-night of your loving face,

What a price I would gladly pay!
The wonderful face . . .
. . . smiling still despite loads of care,

'Tis crowned by a silvering sheen.
Your picture I carry next to my heart;

With it no harm can befall.
It has helped me to smile through many a care,

Since I heeded my country's call.
O mother who nursed me as a babe

And prayed for me as a boy,
Can I not show, now at man's estate,

That you are my pride and joy?
Good night ! God guard you, way over the ocean blue,
Your boy loves you and his dreams are bright.

For he's dreaming of home and you.

One of the letters that was written home for " Mother's
Day " in response to a suggestion on the walls of the Salva-
tion Army hut was as follows :

Dearest Little Mother of Mine:

They started a campaign to write to mother on this day,
and, believe me, I didn't have to be urged very hard. If I wrote
you every time I think of you this war would go hang as far as
I am concerned, for I think of you always and there are hundreds
of things that serve as an eternal reminder.

Near our billet is one lone, scrubby little lilac bush that has
a dozen blossoms, and it doesn't take much mental work to con-
nect lilacs with mother. Then, too, the distant whistle of a train
Vay down the valley reminds me of how you would listen for

THE SALVATION ARMY 113

the whistle of the Montreal train on Saturday morning and then
fix up a big feed for your boy to offset a week of boarding-house
grub. Those and many other things remind me many times a
day of the one who bid me good-by with a smile and saved her
tears 'till she was home alone; who knit helmets, wristlets and
sweaters to keep out the cold when she should have been sleeping;
who (I'll bet a hat) didn't sleep one of the thirteen nights I was
on the ocean, and who writes me cheerful, newsy letters when all
others fail.

And I appreciate all those things too, although I'm not much
on showing affection. I haven't always been as good to you as I
ought, but I'm going to make up by being the soldier and the man
" me mudder " thinks I am.

And when I come back home, all full of prunes and glory, we're
going to have the grandest time you ever dreamed of. We'll go
joy riding, eat strawberry shortcake and pumpkin pie, and have
all the lilacs in the U. S. A. Wait till I walk down Main Street
with you on my arm all fixed up in a swell dress and a new
bonnet and me with a span new uniform, with sergeant-major's
chevrons, about steen service stripes, a Mex. campaign badge and
a Croix de Guerre (maybe), then you'll be glad your boy went
to be a soldier.

I was on the road all of night before last and on guard last
night and I'm a wee bit tired so I'm making this kinder short;
but it's a little reminder that the boy who is 5,000 miles away is
thinking, '' I love you my ma," same as I always did.

And, by gosh, don't forget about that pumpkin pie!

Good-night, mother of mine; your soldier boy loves you a
whole dollar's worth.

The Salvation Army hut was home to the boys over
there. They came to it in sorrow or joy. They came to ask
to scrape out the bowl where the cake batter had been stirred
because mother used to let them do it; they came to get
their coats mended and have their buttons sewed on. Some-
times it seemed to the long-suffering, smiling woman who
sewed them on, as if they just ripped them off so she could
8

114 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

sew them on again ; if so, she did not mind. They came to
mourn when they received no word from home ; and when
the mail came in and they were fortunate they came first
to the hut waving their letter to tell of their good luck
before they even opened it to read it. It is remarkable
how they pinned their whole life on what these consecrated
American women said to them over there. It is wonderful
how they opened their hearts to them on religious subjects,
and how they flocked to the religious meetings, seeming to
really be hungry for them.

Word about these wonderful meetings that the soldiers
were attending in such numbers got to the ears of another
commanding officer, and one day there came a summons for
the Salvation Army Major in charge at Gondrecourt to
appear before him. An officer on a motor cycle with a side
car brought the summons, and the Major felt that it prac-
tically amounted to an arrest. There was nothing to do
but obey, so he climbed into the side car and was whirled
away to Headquarters.

The Major-General received him at once and in brusque
tones informed him most emphatically:

"We want you to get out! We don't want you nor
your meetings ! We are here to teach men to fight and your
religion says you must not kill. Look out there ! '^ point-
ing through the doorway, " we have set up dummies and
teach our men to run their bayonets through them. You
teach them the opposite of that. You will unfit my men
for warfare ! "

The Salvationist looked through the door at the line of
straw dummies hanging in a row, and then he looked back
and faced the Major-General for a full minute before he
said anything.

THE SALVATION ARMY 115

Tall and strong, with soldierly bearing, with ruddy
health in the glow of his cheeks, and fire in his keen blue
eyes, the Salvationist looked steadily at the Major-General
and his indignation grew. Then the good old Scotch burr
on his tongue rolled broadly out in protest :

" On my way up here in your automobile ^' — every
word was slow and calm and deliberate, tinged with a fine
righteous sarcasm — " I saw three men entering your Guard
House who were not capable of directing their own steps.
They had been off on leave down to the town and had come
home drunk. They were going into the Guard House to
sleep it off. When they come out to-morrow or the next
day with their limbs trembling, and their eyes bloodshot
and their heads aching, do you think they will be fit for
warfare ?

" You have men down there in your Guard House who
are loathsome with vile diseases, who are shaken with self-
indulgence, and weakened with all kinds of excesses. Are
they fit for warfare ?

" Now, look at me ! '^

He drew himself up in all the strength of his six feet,
broad shoulders, expanded chest, complexion like a baby,
muscles like iron, and compelled the gaze of the officer.

" Can you find any man — ^' The Salvationist said
" mon " and the soft Scotch sound of it sent a thrill down
the Major-GeneraFs back in spite of his opposition. " Can
you find any mon at fifty-five years who can follow these
in your regiment, who can beat me at any game whatever ? ''

The officer looked, and listened, and was ashamed.

The Major rose in his righteous wrath and spoke mighty
truths clothed in simple words, and as he talked the tears
unbidden rolled down the Major-GeneraPs face and dropped
upon his table.

116 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

"And do you know," said the Salvationist, afterward
telling a friend in earnest confidence, " do you know, before
I left we had prayer together! And he became one of the
best friends we have ! "

Before he left, also, the Major-General signed the
authority which gave him charge of the Guard Houses, so
that he might talk to the men or hold meetings with them
whenever he liked. This was the means of opening up a
new avenue of work among the men.

The Scotch Major had a string of hospitals that he
visited in addition to his other regular duties. He knew that
the men who are gassed lose all their possessions when their
clothes are ripped off from them. So this Salvationist
made a delightful all-the-year-round Santa Claus out of
himself : dressing up in old clothes, because of the mud and
dirt through which he must pass, he would sling a pack on
his back that would put to shame the one Old Santa used
to carry. Shaving things and soap and toothbrushes, hand-
kerchiefs and chocolate and writing materials. How they
welcomed him wherever he came ! Sick men, Protestants,
Jews, Catholics. He talked and prayed with them all, and
no one turned away from his kindly messages.

Six miles from Neuf chauteul is Bazoilles, a mighty city
of hospital tents and buildings, acres and acres of them,
lying in the valley. Whenever this man heard the rumbling
of guns and knew that something was doing, he took his
pack and started down to go the rounds, for there were
always men there needing him.

Then he would hold meetings in the wards, blessed
meetings that the wounded men enjoyed and begged for.

They all joined in the singing, even those who could not

THE SALVATION ARMY 117

sing very well. And once it was a blind boy who asked them
to sing " Lead Kindly Light Amid the Encircling Gloom,
Lead Thou Me On/'

One Sunday afternoon two Salvation Army lassies had
come with their Major to hold their usual service in the
hospital, but there were so many wounded coming in and
the place was so busy that it seemed as if perhaps they
ought to give up the service. The nurses were heavy-eyed
with fatigue and the doctors were almost worked to death.
But when this was suggested with one accord both doctors
and nurses were against it. " The boys would miss it so,"
they said, " and we would miss it, too. It rests us to hear
you sing.''

After the Bible reading and prayer a lassie sang : " There
Is Sunshine in My Heart To-day," and then came a talk that
spoke of a spiritual sunshine that would last all the year.

The song and talk drifted out to another little ward
where a doctor sat beside a boy, and both listened. As the
physician rose to go the wounded boy asked if he might
write a letter.

The next day the doctor happened to meet the lassie
who sang and told her he had a letter that had been handed
to him for censorship that he thought she would like to
see. He said the writer had asked him to show it to her.
This was the letter :

Dear; Mother: You will be surprised to hear that I am in
the hospital, but I am getting well quickly and am having a good
time. But best of all, some Salvation Army people came and sang
and talked about sunshine, and while they were talking the sun-
shine came in through my window — not into my room alone, but
into my heart and life as well, where it is going to stay. I know
how happy this will make you.

118 THE WAR ROIVIANCE OF

The hospital work was a large feature of the service
performed by the Salvation Army. In every area this
testimony comes from both doctors, nurses and wounded
men. Yet it was nothing less than a pleasure for the
workers to serve those patient, cheerful sufferers.

A lassie entered a ward one day and found the men with
combs and tissue paper performing an orchestra selection.
They apologized for the noise, declaring that they were all
cra^y about music and that was the only way they could
get it.

" How would you like a phonograph ? " she asked.

^^Oh, Boy! If we only had one! I'll tell the world
we'd like it,'' one declared wistfully.

The phonograph was soon forthcoming and brought
much pleasure.

A lassie offered to write a letter for a boy whose foot
had just been amputated and whose right arm was bound
in splints. He accepted her offer eagerly, but said :

" But when you write promise me you won't tell mother
about my foot. She worries! She wouldn^t understand
how well off I really am. Maybe you had better let me try
to write a bit myself for you to enclose. I guess I could
manage that. So, with his left hand, he wrote the following :

Dearest Mother: — I am laid up in the hospital here with a
very badly sprained ankle and some bruises, and will be here two
or three weeks. Do not worry, I am getting along fine. Your
loving Son.

Two automobiles, an open car and a limousine, were
maintained in Paris for the sole purpose of providing out-
ings for wounded men who were able to take a little drive.
It was said by the doctors and nurses that nothing helped
a rapid recovery like these little excursions out into an
every-day beautiful world.

THE SALVATION ARMY 119

A boy on ond of the hospital cots called to a passing
lassie :

'^ I am going to die, I know I am, and I'm a Catholic.
Can yon pray for me, Salvation Army girl, like you prayed
for that fellow over there ? "

The young lassie assured him that he was not going
to die yet, but she knelt by his cot and prayed for him,
and soothed him into a sleep from which he awoke refreshed
to find that she was right, he was not going to die yet,
but live, perhaps, to be a different lad.

A sixteen-year-old boy who at the first declaration of
war had run away from home and enlisted was wounded
so badly that he was ordered to go back to the evacuation
hospital. He was determined that he could yet fight, and
was almost crying because he had to leave his comrades,
but on the way back he discovered the entrance to a G-er-
man dugout and thought he heard someone down in there
moving.

" Come out,^' he shouted, ^^ or I'll throw in a hand
grenade ! "

A few minutes later he reached the evacuation hospital
with thirty prisoners of war, his useless arm hanging by
his side. That is the kind of stuff our American boys are
made of, and those are the boys who are praising the
Salvation Army!

It was sunset at the Gondrecourt Officers' Training
Camp. On the big parade ground in back of the Salvation
Army huts three companies were lined up for " Colors."
The sun was sinking into a black mass of storm clouds,
painting the Western sky a dull blood red with here and
there a thread of gleaming gold etched on the rim of a cloud.
Three French children trudged sturdily, wearily, back from
the distant fields where they had toiled all day. The

120 THE WAR ROIVIANCE OF

elder girl pushed a wheelbarrow heavily laden with plunder
from the fields. All bore farming implements, the size of
which dwarfed them by comparison. They had almost
reached the end of the drill ground when the military band
blared out the opening notes of the " Star Sp-angled Ban-
ner/' and the flag slipped slowly from its high staff. In-
stantly the farming tools were dropped and the three child-
ish figures swung swiftly to *^' attention/' hands raised
rigidly to the stiff French salute. So they stood until the
last note had died. Then on they tramped, their backs all
bent and weary, over the hill and down into the grey,
evening-shadowed village of the valley.

In a shell-marred little village at the American front,
the Salvation Army once brought the United States Army
to a standstill. Several hundred artillerymen had gath-
ered for the regular Wednesday night religious service, held
in the hutment, conducted by that organization at this
point, and, in closing, sang vigorously three verses of " The
Star Spangled Banner." A Major who was passing came
immediately to attention, liis example being followed by all
of the men and officers within hearing, and also by a scat-
tering of French soldiers who were just emerging from the
Catholic church. By the time the second verse was well
under way three companies of infantry, marching from a
rest camp toward the front, had also come to a rigid salute,
blocking the road to a quartermaster's supply train, who
had, perforce, to follow suit. The ^^ Star Spangled Banner '^
has a deeper meaning to the man who has done a few turns
in the trenches.

They had a pie-baking contest in Gondrecourt one day,
where the renowned ^' Aunt Mary " was located, with her
sweet face and sweeter heart.

One of the other huts had baked two hundred and

THE SALVATION ARMY 121

thirty-five pies in a day. The people in Gondreconrt be-
lieved they conld do better than that, so they made their
preparations and set to work.

The soldiers were all interested, of course. Who was
to eat those pies ? The more pies the merrier ! The engi-
neers had constmcted a rack to hold them, so that they
might be easily counted without confusion. The soldiers
had appointed a committee to do the counting with a
representative from the cooks to be sure that everything
went right. Even the officers and chaplain took an interest
in it.

This hut was in one of the largest American sectors. It
was so well patronized that they used on an average fifty
gallons of coffee every evening and seventy-five or more
gallons of lemonade every afternoon. You can imagine
the pies 'and doughnuts that would find a welcome here.
One day they made twenty-seven hundred sugar cookies,
and another day they fried eighteen hundred and thinty-
gix doughnuts, at the sajme time baking cake and pies; but
this time they were going to try to bake three hundred
pies between the rising and setting of the sun.

An army field oven only holds nine pies at a time, so
every minute of the day had to be utilized. The fires were
started very early in the morning and everything was
ready for the girls to begin when the sun peeped over the
edge of the great battlefield. They sprang at their task as
though it were a delightful game of tennis, and not as
though they had worked hard and late on the day before,
and the many days before that.

It was very hot in the little kitchen as the sun waxed
high. An army range never tries to conserve its heat

122 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

for the benefit of the cooks. In fact that kitchen was often
used for a Turkish bath by some poor wet soldiers who were
chilled to the bone.

But the heat did not delay the workers. They flew at
their task with fingers that seemed to have somehow bor-
rowed an extra nimbleness. All day long they worked, and
the pies were marshalled out of the oven by nines, flaky
and fragrant and baked just right. The rack grew fuller
and fuller, and the soldiers watched with eager eyes and
watering mouths. Now and then one of the soldiers' cooks
would put his head in at the door, ask how the score stood,
and shake his head in wonder. On and on they worked,
mixing, rolling, filling, putting the little twists and cuts
on the upper crust, and slipping in the oven and out again !
Mixing, rolling, filling and baking without any let-up, until
the sun with a twinkle of glowing appreciation slipped re-
gretfully down behind the hills of France again as if he
were sorry to leave the fun, and the time was up. The com-
mittee gave a last careful glance over the filled racks and
announced the final score, three hundred and sixteen pies,
in shining, delectable rows !

By seven o'clock that evening the pie line was several
hundred yurds long. It was eleven o'clock when the last
quarter of a pie went over the counter, with its accompany-
ing mug of coffee. Think what it was just to have to cut
and serve that pie, and make that coffee, after a long day's
work of baking!

One of the officers receiving his change after having
paid for his pie looked at it surprisedly :

'' And you mean to tell me that you girls work so hard
for such a small return ? I don't see where you make any
profit at all."

"We don't work for profit. Captain," answered the

THE SALVATION ARMY 123

lassie. ^'^ I don't think any amount of money would per-
suade us to keep going as we have to here at times/'

^'^ You mean you sort of work for the joy of working? ''
he asked, puzzled.

"I don't know what you mean," responded the lassie
pleasantly, " but when we are tired we look at the boys
drilling in the sun and working early and late. They are
splendid and we feel we must do our part as unreservedly
as they do theirs."

'' No wonder my men have so many good things to say
about the Salvation Army ! " said the Captain, turning to
his companions. But as he went out into the night his
voice floated back in a puzzled sort of half-conviction, as
if he were thinking out something more than had been
spoken :

*^ It takes more than patriotism to keep refined women
working like that !"

These same girls were commissioned also to make fre-
quent visits to the hospitals and talk with the sick soldiers.
Often they read the Bible to them, and many a man through
these little talks has found the way of eternal life. This in
addition to their other work.

One night after a meeting in the hut a lad wanted to
come into the room at the back and speak to one of the
women about his soul. They knelt and prayed together,
and the boy when he rose had a light of real happiness on
his face. But suddenly the happiness faded and he
exclaimed :

"But I can't read!"

" Eead ? What do you mean ? " asked the lassie.

" My Bible. Nobody never learned me to read, and I
can't read my Bible like you said in the meeting I should."

The lassie thought for a minute, and then suggested

124 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

that he come to the hut every moming just before first
call and she would teach him a verse of scripture and read
him a chapter. This meant that the lassie must rise that
much earlier, but what of that for a servant of the King?

Just a month this program was carried out, and then
came marching orders for the boy, but by this time he had
a rich store of God's word safe in his heart from the verses
he had memorized. The last night when he came to say
good-bye he said to his teacher :

" Your kindness has meant a lot of trouble for you, miss,
but for me it has meant life! Before, I was afraid to
fight ; but now I don't even fear death. I know now that
it can only mean a new life. Thank God for your good-
ness to me ! "

There was one soldier who went by the name of Scoop.
'He had been a reporter back in the States and learned to
love drink. When he joined the army he did not give lip
his old habits. Whenever anybody remonstrated with him
lie invariably replied gaily, " I'm out to enjoy life." On
pay-days Scoop celebrated by drinking more than ever.

One day he happened into tlie Salvation Army hut.
Whether the pie or the doughnuts or the homeyness of the
place first attracted him no one knows. He said it was the
pie. Something held him there. He came every night.
The spirit of the Lord that lived and breathed in those con-
secrated men and girls began to work in his heart and
conscience, and speak to him of better things that might
even be for him.

When he felt the desire for drink or gambling coming
on he gave his money to the girls to keep for him.

On the last pay-day before he was sent to another loca-
tion he took a paint-brush and some paint and made a little

THE SALVATION ARMY 125

sign which he set up in a prominent place in the hut, his
silent testimony to what they had done for him : " for the

FIRST TIME ON PAY-DAY SCOOP IS SOBER ! ''

One morning a lassie was frying some doughnuts in the
Gondrecourt hut, another was rolling and cutting, and
both were very busy when a soldier came in with the mail.
The girls went on with their work, though one could easily
see that they were eager for letters. One was handed to the
lassie who was frying the doughnuts. When she opened it
she found it was an official dispatch. The others saw the
change of her expression and asked what was the matter,
, but she made no reply while tears started down her cheeks.
She, however, went on frying doughnuts. The others asked
again what was the trouble and for answer the girl handed
them the open dispatch, which stated briefly that one of her
three brothers, who were all in the service, had been killed
in action on the previous day. The others sympathetically
tried to draw her away from her work, but she said : " No,
nothing will help me to bear my sorrow like doing some-
thing for others." This is the spirit of the Salvation Army
workers. Personal sorrows, personal feelings, personal dif-
ficulties, hardships, dangers, are not allowed to interrupt
their labors of love. Fortunatel}^ it was later discovered
that this message about her brother was unfounded.

A boy told this lassie one day that the next day was his
birthday, and she saw the homesickness and yearning in
his eyes as he spoke. Immediately she told him she would
have a birthday party for him and bake a cake for it.

She found some tiny candles in the village and placed
nineteen upon the pretty frosted cake. They had to use
a white bed-quilt for a tablecloth, and none of the cups and
saucers matched, but the table looked very pretty when it
was set, with little wliite paper baskets of almonds which

126 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

the girls had made at each place, and all the candles lit
on the white cake in the middle. The boy brought three
of his comrades, and there were the Salvation Army Major
in charge and the lassies. They had a beautiful time. Of
course it was quite a little extra work for the lassie, but
when someone asked her why she took so much trouble she
bad a faraway look in her eyes, and said she guessed it was
for the sake of the boy's mother, and those who heard re-
membered that her own three brothers were in United
States uniform somewhere facing the enemy.

There are several instances in which American soldiers
coming from British and French Sectors, where they had
been brigaded with armies, of those nations, have upon
entering a Salvation Army hut for the first time without
noticing the sign over the door started to talk to the girls
in French — very fragmentary French at that. When they
found the girls to be Americans they were almost beside
themselves with mingled feelings of bashfulness and de-
light. Most of the soldiers exhibit the former trait.

One boy approached one of our men officers.

'^ Can them girls speak American ? " he asked, pointing
at the girls.

On being assured that they could, he said : " Will they
mind if I go up and speak to them? I ain't talked to an
American woman in seven months.'^

Two soldiers were walking along the dusty roadway.

First soldier : " Let's go to the Salvation Army hut."

Second soldier : " No, I don't want to."

First soldier : ^' They've got a piano and a phonograph
and lots of records."

Second soldier : " No, I don't want to."

First soldier : " They've got books and heaucoup
games."

THE SALVATION ARMY 127

Second soldier : ^' No, I don't want to."

First soldier : " Two American ladies there ! '^

Second soldier : " No, I don't want to."

First soldier: "They've got swell coffee and dough-
nuts ! "

Second soldier (angrily) : " No ! I said NO ! "

First soldier : " Aw, come on. They got real home-
made pie ! "

Second soldier : " I don't care ! "

First soldier : " They cut their own wood and do their
own work ! "

Second soldier: "Well, that's different! Why didn't
you say that right off, you bonehead? Come on. Where
is it?"

And they entered the Salvation Army hut smiling.

One dear Salvation Army lady had a little hand sewing
machine which she took about with her and wherever she
landed she would sit down on an orange crate, put her
machine on another and set up a tailor shop: sewing up
rips ; refitting coats that were too large ; letting out a seam
that was too tight ; and helping the boys to be tidy and com-
fortable again. A good many of our boys lost their coats in
the Soissons fight, and when they got new ones they didn't
always fit, so this little sewing machine that went to war
came in very handy. Sometimes the owner would rip off
the collar or rip out the sleeves, or almost rip up the whole
coat and with her mouthful of pins skillfully put it to-
gether again until it looked as if it belonged to the laddie
who owned it. Then with some clever chalk marks replac-
ing the pins she would run it through her little machine,
and off went another boy well-clothed. One week she altered
more than thirty-three coats in this way. The soldiers

128 THE WAR ROMANCE

called her " mother '' and loved to sit about and talk with
her while she worked.

The men went in battalions to the Limeville Sector for
Trench Training facing the enemy. Of course, the Salva-
tion Army sent a detachment also.

Over here they had to give up huts. No huts at all were
allowed so near the front. No light of fire or even stove,
no lights of any kind or everything would be destroyed by
shell fire at once. An order went out that all huts near the
front must be under ground. Yet neither did this daunt
the faithful men and women whom God Himself had sent
to help those boys at the front.

The work was extended to other camps in the Gondre-
court area and finally the time came for the troops to move
up to the front to occupy part of a sector.

ni.

THE TOtTL SECTOE.

Headquakters of the First Division were established
at Menil-la-Tour and that of the First Brigade at Ansau-
ville. Information came on leaving the Gondrecourt Area,
that the district would be abandoned to the French, so the
wooden hut at Montiersi was moved and set up again at
Sanzey, which then became the Headquarters of the First
Ammunition Train. Huts were established at Menil-la-
Tour and other points in the Toul Sector.

It took three days to erect the hut at Sanzey, but within
an hour the field range was set up, and a piece of tarpaulin
stretched over it to keep the rain off the girls and the
doughnuts.

Hour after hour the girls stood there making dough-
nuts, and hour after hour the line moved slowly along wait-
ing patiently for doughnuts. The Adjutant went away a
little while and returned to find some of the same boys
standing in line as when he left. Some had been standing
five hours! It was the only pastime they had, just as
soon as they were off duty, to line up again for doughnuts.

The hut at Sanzey was used mostly by men of an
Ammunition Train. As in other places where the Salva-
tion Army huts catered to the American troops, an all-night
service of hot coffee or chocolate and doughnuts or cookies
was provided for the men as they returned from their dan-
gerous nightly trips to the front. When men were killed
their comrades usually brought them back and laid them in
9 1£9

130 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

this hut until they could be buried. One night a man was
killed and brought back in this fashion. The chaplain was
holding a service over his body in the hut. The Salvation
Army man was talking to the man who had been the dead
lad^s " buddie.^' " I wish it was me instead of him, Cap/^
said this soldier, " he was his mother^s oldest son and she
will take it hard.^'

The Salvation Army was told that Ansauville was too
far front for any women to be allowed to go. They felt,
however, that it was advisable for women to be there and
determined to bring it about if possible. On scouting the
town there was found no suitable place in any of the build-
ings except one that was occupied as the General's garage.
The Salvation Army was not permitted to erect any addi-
tional buildings as it was feared they would attract the fire
of the Germans, for Ansauville was well within the range
of the German guns.

After deciding that the General's garage was the only
logical place for them the Salvation Army representative
called upon the General, who asked him where he would
propose establishing a hut. The Salvationist told him the
only suitable place in the town was that used by him as a
garage. He immediately gave most gracious and courteous
consent and ordered his aide to find another garage.

The place in question was an old frame barn with a
lofty roof which had already been partly shot away and was
open to the sky. They were not permitted to repair the
roof because the German airplane observers would notice it
and know that some activity was going on there which would
call for renewed shell fire. However, the top of one of the
circus tents was easily run up in the barn so as to form a
ceiling.

THE SALVATION ARMY 131

Ansanville was between Mandres and Menil-la-Tour,
not far from advanced positions in the Toul Sector. Five
hundred French soldiers had been severely gassed there the
night before the Staff-Captain and his helper arrived, and
every day people were killed on the streets by falling shells.
There was not a house in the village that had not suffered
in some way from shell fire; very few had a door or a
window left, and many were utterly demolished.

Approaching the town the roads were camouflaged with
burlap curtains hanging on wires every little way, so that
it was impossible to see down the streets very far in either
direction. There were signs here and there: "ATTEN-
TION! THE ENEMY SEES YOU I '^

About midnight the Staff-Captain and his officer
arrived and after some difficulty found the old barn that
the Colonel had told them was to be their hut, but to their
dismay there were half a dozen cars parked inside, includ-
ing the Commanding GeneraPs, and it looked as if it were
being used for the Staff Garage. Looking up they could
Bee the stars peeping through the shell holes in the tiled
roof. It was the first time either of them had been in a
shelled town and the experience was somewhat awe-inspir-
ing. Moreover they were both hungry and sleepy and the
situation was by no means a cheerful one. They had a large
tent and a load of supplies with them and were at a loss
where to bestow them.

In the midst of their perturbation a courier arrived
with a side car and dismounted. He stumbled in on them
and peered at them through the darkness.

" As I live, it's the Salvation Army ! " he cried joyfully,
shaking hands with both of them at once. " AU of the boys
have been asking when you were coming. Are you looking
for a place to chow and sleep ? There's no place in town

m THE WAR ROMANCE OF

for a billet, but we have a kitchen down the street. Wfe can
give you some chow, and it's warm there. You can roll up
in your blankets and sleep by the stove till morning. Come
with me.^'

The cook awakened them in the morning with his
clatter of pots and pans in preparation for breakfast. They
arose and began to roll up their blanket packs.

" Don't worry about getting up yet," said the chief cook
kindly. " Sleep a little longer. You are not in my way."
But the two men thanked him and declined to rest longer.

" Where are you going to chow ? " asked the chief cook.

The Salvationists allowed that they didn't know.

" Well, you boys line up with this outfit, see ? " in-
sisted the chief cook. " We eat three times a day and you're
welcome to everything we have ! "

This settled the question of board, and after a good
breakfast the two started out to report to the General in
command.

He greeted them most kindly and made them feel wel-
come at once.

When they asked about the barn he smiled pleasantly:

" That Colonel of yours is a fine fellow," he said. " He
told me that there was only one place in this town that
would do for your hut and that was my garage. He said he
was afraid he would have to ask me to move my car. Just
as though my car were of more importance than the souls
of my men ! Gentlemen, you can have anything you want
that is mine to give. The barn is yours ! And if there's
anything I can do, command me ! "

It was a very dirty stable and needed a deal of clean-
ing, but the strong workers bent to their task with willing
hands, and soon had it in fine order. There was no possi-
bility of mending the roof, but they camouflaged the old

THE SALVATION ARMY 133

tent top and ran it up inside, and it kept the rain and snow
off beautifully. Of course, it was no protection against
shells, but when they commenced to arrive everybody de-
parted in a hurry to the nearby dugouts, returning quietly
when the firing had ceased. The nights were so cold that
they had to sleep with all their clothes on, even their over-
coats. Often in the mornings their shoes were frozen too
stiff to put on until they were thawed over a candle. One
soldier broke his shoe in two trying to bend it one morning.
Sometimes the men would sleep with their shoes inside their
shirts to keep the damp leather from freezing. Two yards
from the stove the milk froze !

A field range had been secured and the chimney ex-
tended up from the roof for a distance of forty or fifty
feet. It smoked terril'Iy, but on this range was cooked
many a savory meal and tens of thousands of doughnuts.

Among the doughboys who loved to help around the
Salvation Army hut was a quiet fellow who never talked
much about himself, yet everybody liked him and trusted
him. No one knew much about him, or where he came
from, and he never told about his folks at home as some
did. But he used to come in from the trenches during the
day and do anything he could to be useful around the hut,
which was run by two sisters. Even when he had to stand
watch at night he would come back in the daytime and
help. They could not persuade him to sleep when he ought.
Other fellows came and went, talked about their troubles
and their joys, got their bit of sympathy or cheer and went
their way, but this fellow came every day and worked
silently, always on the job. They made him their chief
doughnut dipper and he seemed to love the work and did
it well.

134 THE WAR ROMANCE OP

Then one day his company moved, and he came no more.
The girls often asked if anyone knew anything about him,
but no one did. Once in a while a brief note would come
from him up at the front in the trenches a few miles to the
north, but never more than a word of greeting.

One morning the girls were making doughnuts, hard
at work, and suddenly the former chief doughnut dipper
stumbled into the hut. He looked tired and dusty and it
was evident by the way he walked that he was footsore.

" Gee ! It's good to see you,'' he said, sinking down in
his old place by the stove.

They gave him a cup of steaming coffee and all the
doughnuts he could eat and waited for his story, but h©
did not begin.

*^ Well, how are you ? '' asked one of the girls, hoping
to start him.

" Oh, all right, thanks," he said meekly.

*^ Where is your company ? ''

*^ Up the line in some woods.''

"How far is it?"

" About ten miles."

The girls felt they were not getting on very fast in
acquiring information.

" Did you walk all that way in the dust and sun ? "

" Most of it. Sometimes I was in the fields."

" Were you on watch last night ? "

" Ye-ah."

" Then you didn't have any sleep ? "

" No."

'^ Why did you come over here then ? "

" I wanted to see you." Ther« was a sound of a deep
hunger in his voice.

THE SALVATION ARMY 135

" Well, we're awfully glad to see you, surely. Is there
anything we can do for you ? ''

"No. Just let me look at you" — there was frank
honesty in his eyes, a deep undertone of reverence in his
voice, not even a hint of gallantry or flattery, only a loyal
homage.

" Just let me look at you — and " he hesitated.

"And what?''

" And cook some doughnuts."

" Why, of course ! " said the girls cheerily, " but you
must lie down and sleep awhile first. We'll fix a place for
you."

"I don't want to lie down," said the soldier deter-
minedly, " I don't want to waste the time."

" But it wouldn't be wasted. You need the sleep."

" No, that isn't what I need. I want to look at you," he
reiterated. " I've got a wife and a little baby at home, and
I love them. I like to be here because seeing you takes me
back to them. This morning I knew I ought to sleep, but
I just couldn't go over the top to-night without seeing you
again. That's why I want to see you and fry a few dough-
nuts for you. It takes me back to them."

He finished with a far-away look in his eyes. He was not
thinking what impression his words would make, his
thoughts were with his wife and little baby.

He worked around for a couple of hours, saying very
little, but seeming quite content. Then he looked at his
watch and said it was time to go, as it was quite a walk
back to his company. Just so quietly he took his leave and
went out to take his chance with Death.

The two girls thought much about him that night as
they went about their work, and later lay down and tried to
sleep, and their prayers went up for the faithful soul who

136 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

was doing his duty out there under fire, and for the anxious
wife and little one who waited to know the outcome. Sleep
did not come soon to their eyes, as they lay in the darkness
and prayed.

"The next day about noon as the girls were dipping
doughnuts the chief doughnut dipper stumbled once more
into the hut, tired, dirty, dusty and worn, but with his eyes
sparkling :

" Just thought I ought to come back and tell you I'm
all right/' he said. " I was afraid you'd be worried. My
wife and baby would, anyway."

The girls received him with exultant smiles.

" You go out there under the trees and go to sleep 1 "
they ordered him.

" AU right, I will," he said. " I feel like sleeping now.
Say, you don't think I'm crazy, do you ? I just had to see
you I It took me back to them ! "

It was one of those chill rainy nights which have caused
the winter of 1917-1918 to be remembered with shudders
by the men of the earlier American Expeditionary Forces.
A large part of the American forces were billeted in the
weathered, age-old little villages of the Gondrecourt area.
They slept in barns, haylofts, cowsheds and even in pig
sties. The roads were mere ditches running knee deep in
sticky, clogging mud. Shoes, soaked through from the
muddy road, froze as the men slept and in the morning had
to be thawed out over a candle before they could be drawn
on. Frequently men were late at roll-call simply because
their shoes were frozen so stiff that they were unable to don
them, and their leggings so icy that they could not be wound.
After sundown there were no lights, because lights invited
air-raids and might well expose the position of troops to
the enemy observers. Only in towns where there were Sal-

THE SALVATION ARMY 137

vation Army or Y. M. C. A. huts could meii find any arti-
ficial warmth during the day or night, and only in these
places were there any lights after nightfall. Such huts
afforded absolutely the only available recreation facilities.
But in countless villages where Americans were billeted
there was not even this small comfort to be had.

On this particular night, in such a village, an eighteen-
year-old boy sat in the orderly room of a regimental head-
quarters, which was housed in a once pretentious but now
sadly decrepit house. Rain leaked through the tiled roof
and dribbled down into the room. Windows were long
ago shattered and through cracks in the rude board barri-
cades which had replaced the glass a rising wind was
driving the rain. The boy sat at a rough wooden table
waiting orders. Two weeks previously a letter had come,
saying that his mother was seriously ill. Since that he had
had no further word. He was desperately homesick. There
had been as yet none of the danger and none of the thrill
which seems to settle a man down to the serious business
of war.

A passing soldier had just told him that in a village
some twelve kilometers distant two Salvation Army
women were operating a hut. He longed desperately for
the comfort of a woman of Ms own people and, gitting in
the drafty, damp room, he wished that these two Salva-
tionists were not so far away — that he could talk with them
and confide in them. At last the wish grew so strong that
he could no longer resist it.

He got up quietly, and silently slipped out into the
rainy night. The darkness was so thick that he could not
see objects six feet away. Walking through the mud was
out of the question. He stumbled down the street, once
falling headlong into a muddy puddle, finally reaching the

1S8 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

horse-lines, where, saying that he had an errand for the
Colonel, he saddled a horse and slopped off into the night.

For a while he kept to the road, his horse occasionally
taking fright, as a truck passed clanking slowly in the
opposite direction, or a staff car turned out to pass him
like a fleeting, ghostly shadow. By following the trees
which lined the road at regular intervals he was fairly
sure to keep the road. He was very tired and soon began
to feel sleepy, but the driving storm, which by this time
had assumed the proportions of a tempest, stung him to
wakefulness. Once, at a cross-roads a Military Police
stopped and questioned him and gave him directions upon
his saying that he was carrying dispatches.

He went on. He dozed, only to be sharply awakened
by a truck which almost ran him down. He must be more
careful, he thought to himself, feeling utterly alone and
miserable. But in spite of his resolution his eyes soon
closed again. He was awakened, this time by his horse
stumbling over some unseen obstacle. He could see nothing
in any direction. The blackness and rain shut him in like a
fog. He turned at right angles to find the trees which
lined the road, but there were no trees. He swung his
horse around and went in the other direction, but he found
no trees — only an im^penetrable darkness which pressed in
upon him with a heaviness which might almost have been
weighed. He was lost — ^utterly lost.

He guided his steed in futile circles, hoping to regain
the road, but all to no avail. Fear of the night fell upon
him. He was wet to the skin and chilled to the bone. He
shivered with cold and with fright. Dropping from his
horse he pulled from his pocket an electric flashlight and
began throwing its slender beam in widening arcs over the
ground. The light revealed a stubble field. Surely there
must be a path which would lead to the road, thought the

THE SALVATION ARMY 139

boy. Backward aad forward over the field he waved the
light. His hands trem)bled so that he could not hold the
switch steady, and the lamp blinked on and off.

On the storm-swept, night-hidden hillside which over-
hung the field was established an anti-aircraft battery.
The sound detectors had just registered the intermittent
hum of an enemy plane. It was unusual that an enemy
aviator should fight his way over the lines in the face of
such a storm, but such things had occurred before and the
Captain in charge of the battery searched the tempestuous
skies for the intruder, waiting for the sound to grow until
he should know that the searchlights had at least a chance
of locating the venturesome plane instead of merely giving
away their position.

Suddenly, cutting the night in the field below, a tiny
ray of light cut the darkness, sweeping back and forward,
fiashing on and off. For a moment the officer watched it,
then, with a muttered curse, he raced down the hillside
followed by one of his men. The noise! of the storm hid
their approach. The boy collapsed into a trembling heap,
as the officer grasped him and wrested the flash-light from
his chilled fingers. He made no protest as they led him
down into a dark, deserted village. He followed his captors
into a candle-lighted room where sat a staff officer.

Briefly the Captain explained the situation.

^^ Caught him in the act of signaling to an enemy plane,
sir,'' he said.

The boy was too cold to venture a protest.

*^ Bring him to me again in the morning," said the
'Colonel, shrugging his shoulders. '*^iHold on, though!
"What are you going to do with him? He will die unless
you get him warmed up."

" Don't know what to do with him, sir, unless I take
(him down to the Salvation Army . . . they have a
fixe there."

140 THE WAR ROMANCE OP

" Very good, Captain, see that he is properly guarded
and if they will have him, leave him there for the night."

And so it cam.e to pass that the boy reached his destina-
tion. It was past closing time — long past ; but the motherly
Salvationist in charge knew just what to do. Within ten
minutes, wrapped in a warm blanket, the boy sat with his
feet in a pan of hot water, with the Salvation Army
woman feeding him steaming lemonade. Between gulps,
he told his story and was comforted. Soon he was snugly
tucked into an army cot, and still grasping the Salva-
tionist's hand, was sleeping peacefully.

The next day a little investigation assured the Colonel
that the boy's story was a true one, and with a reprimand
for leaving his post without orders he was allowed to re-
turn. The delay, however, had absented him, of course,
from morning roll-call, and he was sentenced to thirty
days repairing wire on the front-line trenches, which was
often equivalent to a death sentence, for as many men were
shot during the performance of this duty as came in
safely.

He had done fifteen days of his time at this sentence
when the Salvation Army woman from the Ansauville hut
which the boy had visited that rainy night happened over
to his Officers' Headquarters, and by chance learned of his
unhappy fate. It took but a few words from her to his
commanding officer to set matters right; his sentence was
revoked, and he was pardoned.

Ansauville was a point of peculiar importance in that
all the troops passing into or out from the sector stopped
there. It was here that cocoa and coffee were first provided
for the troops. Afterwards it came to be the habit to serve
them with the doughnuts and pie. It was when the Twenty-
sixth Division came into the line. They had marched for
hours and had been without any warm meal for a long time.

THE SALVATION ARMY 141

Detachments of them reached Ansauville at night, wet and
cold, too late to secure supper that night, and hearing they
were coming, the lassies put on great boilers of coffee and
cocoa, and as the men arrived they were given to them freely.

A hut was established at Mandres. This was some dis-
tance in advance of Ansauville and lay in the valley. At
first a wooden building was secured. It had nothing but
a dirt floor but lumber was hauled from Newchateau by
truck — a distance of sixty miles, and the place was made
comfortable.

For some little time the boys enjoyed this hut, but on one
occasion the Germans sent over a heavy barrage; they hit
the hut, destroying one end of it, scattering the supplies,
ruining the victrola, and after that the military authorities
ordered that the men should not assemble in such numbers.

When this order was given, the Salvation Army had no
intention of discontinuing work at Mandres and so found
a cellar under a partially destroyed building. This cellar
was vaulted and had been used for storing wine. It was
wet and in bad condition, but with some labor it was made
fit to receive the men ; and tables and benches were placed
there, the canteen established and a range set up. It was
at this place that a very wonderful work was carried on.
The Salvation Army Ensign who had charge, for a time,
scoured the country for miles around to purchase eggs, which
he transferred to his hut in an old baby carriage. The eggs
were supplied to the men at cost and they fried them
themselves on the range, which was close at hand. This
was considered by the military authorities too far front
for women to come and only men were allowed here.

The Ensign also mixed batter for pan cakes and estab-
lished quite a reputation as a pan-cake maker. Here was
a place where the soldiers felt at home. They could come
in at any time and on the fire cook what they pleased.

142 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

They could purchase at the canteen such articles as were
for sale and it was home to them. Very wonderful meet-
ings were held in this spot and many men found Christ at
the penitent-form, which was an old bench placed in front
of the canteen.

On the wharf in New York when the soldiers were
returning home some soldiers were talking about the Sal-
vation Army. " Did you ever go to one of their meetings ? "
asked one. " I sure did ! " answered a big fine fellow — a
college man, by the way, from one of the well known New
England universities. " I sure did ! — and it was the most
impressive service I ever attended. It was down in an old
wine cellar, and the house over it wasn't because it had
been blown away. The meeting was led by a little Swede,
and he gave a very impressive address, and followed it by a
wonderful prayer. And it wasn't because it was so learned
either, for the man was no college chap, but it stirred me
deeply. I used to be a good deal of a barbarian before I
went to France, but that meeting made a big change in me.
Things are going to be different now.

" The place was lit by a candle or two and the guns were
roaring overhead, but the room was packed and a great
many men stood up for prayers. Oh, I'll never forget that
meeting ! "

That meeting was in the old wine ceUar in Mandres.

The town of Mandres was shelled daily and it was an
exceptional day that passed without from one to ten men
being killed as a result of this shelling.

Here are some extracts from letters written by the
Ensign from the old wine cellar in Mandres:

" Somewhere in France,'*

May 15, 1918.
I am still busy in my old wine-cellar in France. I must give
you an idea of my daily routine: Get up early and, go to my

THE SALVATION ARMY 143

cellar. Get wood and make fire; go for some water to put on
stove. Take my mess kit, helmet, gas mask and cane, walk about
one block to the part of the church standing by the artillery
kitchen and get my hand-out mess, go back to my cellar and have
my breakfast, see to the fire, fuel, clean and light the lamps, dip
and carry out some water and mud (but have now found a place
to drain off the water by cutting through the heavy stone wall
and digging a ditch underneath). I dig whenever I have time.
Then the boys begin to comei in — some right from the trenches,
others who are resting up after a siege in the trenches. They are
all covered with mud when they come in and have to talk, stand
and even sleep in mud. Then I must have the cocoa and coffee
ready and serve also the candy, figs, nuts, gum, chocolate, shaving-
sticks, razors, watches, knives, gun oil, paper, envelopes, etc. I
mostly wear my rubber boots and stand in a little boot
" slouched " down so I can stand straight. Almost every evening
we have a little "sing-song" or regular service, and on Sunday
two or three services.

Our wine-cellar is supposed to be bomb-proof. First the roof,
the ceiling, the floor, then the three-feet stone and concrete under
the floor and along the wine-cellar. I am all alone for all this busi-
ness. Sometimes the boys help me to cut wood and keep the fire
and carry water, but the companies are changed so often that
they go and come every five days, and when they come from the
trenches they are so tired and sleepy they need all the rest they
can get. Yesterday I had to change the stove and stovepipes
because it smoked so bad that it almost smoked us out. So I had
to run through the ruins and find old stovepipes. I could not
find enough elbows, so I had to make some with the help of an
old knife. We ran the pipes through the low window bars and
up the side of the house to the top, and plastered up poor joints
with mud, but it burns better and does not smoke. The boys
claim I make the best coffee they have had in France, and also
cocoa. I am glad I know something of cooking. You see, they
don't permit girls so near the trenches and in the shell fire.

My dear Major:

Grace, love and peace unto you ! Many thanks for the beau-
tiful letter I received from you full of love, Christian admonition
and encouragement. Such letters are much appreciated over here.

I have been very busy. The last week, in addition to running

144 THE WAB ROMANCE OF

the ordinary business, I have used the pick and shovel and wheel-
barrow in lowering our wine-cellar floor (now used as a Salvation
Army rest room), so we can walk straight in. I have also done
some white-washing to brighten things up and have some flowers
in bowls, large French wine bottles and big brass shells, which
makes a great improvement. I now expect to pick up pieces and
erect a range, so we can cook and make things faster. I secured
two hams and am having them cooked, and expect to serve ham
sandwiches by Decoration Day, two days hence, when there is to
be a great time in decorating the graves of our heroes. I am also
trying to get some lemons so that I can make lemonade for the
boys besides the coff'ee and cocoa. You can get an idea of the
immensity of our business when I tell you I got 999.25 francs
worth of butter-scotch candy alone with the last lot of goods,
besides a dozen other kinds of candy, nuts, toilet articles, etc.,
and this will be sold and given out in a very few days.

We had very good meetings last Sunday. I spoke at night.
A glorious time we had, indeed. Prai&e God for the opportunity
of working among the New England braves!

At Menil-la-Tours the French forbade any huts at all
to be put up at first, but finally they gave permission for
one hut. The Staff-Captain wanted to put up two, but as
that wasn't allowed he got around the order by building five
rooms on each side of the one big hut and so had plenty of
room. It is pretty hard to get ahead of a Salvation Army
worker when he has a purpose in view. Not that they are
stubborn, simply that they know how to accomplish their
purpose in the nicest way possible and please everybody.

There were some American railroad engineers here,
working all night taking stuff to the front. They came over
and asked if they could help out, and so instead of taking
their day for sleep they spent most of it putting tar paper
on the roof of the Salvation Army hut.

It was in this place that there seemed to be a strong
prejudice among some of the soldiers against the Salvation
Army for some reason. The soldiers stood about swearing
at the Staff-Captain and his helper as they worked, and

THE SALVATION ARMY 145

saying the most abusive and contemptible things to them.
At last the Staff- Captain turned about and, looking at them,
in the kindliest way said :

" See here, boys, did you ever know anything about the
Salvation Army before ? "

They admitted that they had not.

" Well, now, just wait a little while. Give us fair play
and see if we are like what you say we are. Wait until we
get our hut done and get started, and then if you don't
like us you can say so.''

" Well, that's fair, Dad," spoke up one soldier, and after
that there was no more trouble, and it wasn't long before
the soldiers were giving the most generous praise to the
Salvation Army on every side.

L'Hermitage, nestled in the heart of a deep woods, was
no quiet refuge from the noise of battle and the troubles
of a war-weary world, as one might suppose. It was sur-
rounded by swamps everywhere. And it had been raining,
of course. It always seems to have been raining in France
during this war. There were duck boards over the swampy
ground, and a single mis-step might send one prone in the
ooze up to the elbows.

It was a very dangerous place, also.

There was a large ammunition dump in the town, and
besides that there was a great balloon located there which
the Boche planes were always trying to get. It was the
nearest to the front of any of our balloons and, of course,
was a great target for the enemy. There was a lot of heavy
coast artillery there, also, and there were monster shell
holes big enough to hold a good audience.

At last one day the enemy did get the ammunition

dump, and report after report rent the air as first one shell

and then another would burst and go up in flame. It was

fourteen hours going oQ and the military oflScer ordered

10

146 THE WAR ROMANCE

the girls to their billets until it should be over. It was like
this: First a couple of shells would explode, then there
would be a second's quiet and a keg of powder would flare ;
then some boxes of ammunition would go off; then some
more shells. It was a terrible pandemonium of sound.
Thirty miles away in Gondrecourt they saw the fire and
heard the terrific explosions. .''

The Zone Major and one of his helpers had been to
Nancy for a truck load of eggs and were just unloading,
when the explosions began. Together they were carefully'
lifting out a crate containing a hundred dozen eggs when
the mammoth detonations began that rocked the earth be-
neath them and threatened to shake them from their feet.
They staggered and tottered but they held onto the eggs.
One of the sayings of Commander Eva Booth is, " Choose
your purpose and let no whirlwind that sweeps, no enemy
that confronts you, no wave that engulfs you, no peril that
affrights you, turn you from it.'' The Zone Major and his
helper had chosen the purpose of landing those eggs safely,
and eggs at five francs a dozen are not to be lightly dropped,
so they staggered but they held onto the eggs.

The girls in the canteen went quietly about their work
until ordered to safety; but over in Sanzey and Menil-la-
Tour their friends watched and waited anxiously to hear
what had been their fate.

The General who was in charge of the Twenty-sixth
Division was exceedingly kind to the Salvation Army girls.
He acted like a father toward them: giving up his own
billet for their use; sending an escort to take them to it
through the woods and swamps and dangers when their
work at the canteen was over for a brief respite ; setting a
sentry to guard them and to give a gas alarm when it be-
came necessary ; and doing everything in his power for their
comfort and safety.

r P=5

IV.

THE MONTDIDIER SECTOE.

Spring came on even in shell-torn France, lovely like
the miracle it always is. Bare trees in a day were arrayed
in wondrous green. A camouflage of beauty spread itself
upon the valleys and over the hillsides like a garment sewn
with colored broidery of blossoms. Great scarlet poppies
flamed from ruined homes as if the blood that had been
spilt were resurrected in a glorious color that would seek to
hide the misery and sorrow and touch with new loveliness
the war-scarred place. Little birds sent forth their flutey
voices where mortals must be hushed for fear of enemies.

The British had been driven back by the Huns until
they admitted that their backs were against the wall, and it
was an anxious time. Daily the enemy drew nearer to Paris.

When the great offensive was started by the Germans in
March, 1918, and American troops were sent up to help the
British and French, the Division was located at Mont-
didier. Under the rules for the conduct of war, they were
not permitted to know where they were destined to go, and
so the Salvation Army could not secure that information.
They knew it was to be north of Paris, but where, was the
problem.

The French were opposed to any relief organizations
going into the Sector, and rules and regulations were made
which were calculated to discourage or to keep them out
altogether.

It was urgent that the Salvation Army should be there
at the earliest possible moment and as they could not secure
permits, especially for the women, they decided to get there
without permits.

147

148 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

The first contingent was put into a big Army truck,
the cover was put down and they were started on the road,
to a point from which they hoped to secure information
of the movements of their outfit. From place to place this
truck proceeded until, finally, detachments of the troops
were located in the vicinity of Gisors. Contact was imme-
diately established. The girls were received with the great-
est joy and portable tents were set up. It seemed as if
every man in the Division must come to say how glad he
was to see them back. The men decided that if it was in
their power they would never again allow the Salvation
Army to be separated from them. A few days later when
the Division was ordered to move they took these same
lassies with them riding in army trucks. The troops were
on their way to the front and seldom remained more than
three days in one place, and frequently only one day. On
arrival at the stopping-place, fifteen or twenty of the boys
would immediately proceed to erect the tent and within an
hour or two a comfortable place would be in operation, a
field range set up, the phonograph going, and the boys had
a home.

At Courcelles the Salvation Army set up a tent, started
a canteen, and had it going four days in charge of two
sisters just come from the States. Then one morning they
woke up and found their outfit gone, they knew not where,
and they had to pick up and go after them. An all-day
journey took them to Froissy, where they found their special
outfit.

There was no place for a tent at Froissy, but there was
an old dance hall, where they had their canteen. The Divi-
sion stayed there five weeks — under a roar of guns. But in
spite of this there were wonderful meetings every night in
Froissy.

THE SALVATION ARMY 149

This work was exceedingly trying on the girls. Per-
mits were never secured for any of the Salvation Army
workers in this Sector. They were applied for regularly
through the French Army. About three months after
application was made, they were all received back with the
statement from the French that, seeing the workers were
already there, it was not now necessary that permits should
be issued. It must be reported that the French Army was
opposed to the presence of women in any of the camps of
the soldiers. This prejudice existed for a long time, but it
was finally broken down because of the good work done by
Salvation Army women, which came to be fully recognized
by the French Army.

The work in the Montdidier Sector was particularly
hard. Permanent buildings could not be established. The
best that could be done was to erect portable tents, which
were about twenty feet wide and fifty-seven feet long. Huts
were established in partially destroyed buildings or houses
or stores that had been vacated by their owners, and on the
extreme front canteens were established in dugouts and
cellars and the entire district was under bombardment from
the German guns as well as from the airplane bombs. The
Salvation Army had no place there that was not under
bombardment continually. The huts were frequently
shelled and there was imminent danger for a long time that
the German Army would break through, which, of course,
added to the strain.

The Zone Major went back and forth bringing more
men and more lassies and more supplies from the Base at
Paris to the front, and many a new worker almost lost his
life in a baptism of fire on his way to his post of duty for
the first time. But all these men and women, as a soldier

150 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

said, were made of some fine high stuff that never faltered
at danger or fatigue or hardship.

They rode over shell-gashed roads in the blackest mid-
night in a little dilapidated Ford; made wild dashes when
they came to a road upon which the enemy's fire was con-
centrated, looking back sometimes to see a geyser of flame
leap up from a bend around which they had just whirled.
Shells would rain in the fields on either side of them ; cars
would leap by them in the dark, coming perilously close
and swerving away just in time ; and still they went bravely
on to their posts.

Everything would be blackest darkness and they would
think they were stealing along finely, when all of a sudden
an incendiary bomb would burst and flare up like a house-
on-fire lighting up the whole country for miles about, and
there you were in plain sight of the enemy! And you
couldn't turn back nor hesitate a second or you would be
caught by the ever watchful foe ! You had to go straight
ahead in all that blare of light !

The S. A. Adjutant's headquarters were fifty feet below
the ground ; sometimes the earth would rock with the explo-
sives. Two of the dugouts were burrowed almost beneath
the trenches and S. A. Officers here looked after the needs
of the men who were actually engaged in fighting. Every
night the shattered villages were raked and torn above
them. Such dugouts could only be left at night or when
the firing ceased. The two men who operated these
lived a nerve-racking existence. Of course, all pies and
doughnuts for these places had to be prepared far to the
rear, and no fire could be built as near to the front as this.
It was no easy task to bring the supplies back and forth.
It was almost always done at the risk of life.

The Staff -Cap tain and the Adjutant were speeding

THE SALVATION ARMY 151

over a shell-swept road one cold, black, wet night at reckless
speed without a light, their hearts filled with anxiety, for
a rumor had reached them that two Salvation Army lassies
had been killed by shell fire. The night was full of the
sound of war, the distant rumble of the heavy guns, the
nervous stutter of machine guns, the tearing screech of a
barrage high above the road.

Suddenly in front of them yawned a black gulf. The
Adjutant jammed on his brakes, but it was too late. The
game little Ford sailed right into a big shell hole, and
settled down three feet below the road right side up but
tightly wedged in. The two travelers climbed out and
reconnoitered but found the situation hopeless. There had
been many sleepless nights before this one, and the men,
weary beyond endurance, rolled up in their blankets,
climbed into the car, and went to sleep, regardless of the
guns that thundered all about them.

They were just lost to the land of reality when a soldier
roused them summarily, saying:

" This is a heck of a place for the Salvation Army to go
to sleep ! If you don't mind I'll just pick your old bus out
of here and send you on your way before it's light enough
for Fritzy to spot you and send a calling card."

He was grinning at them cheerfully and they roused
to the occasion.

" How are you going to do it ? " asked the Adjutant,
who, by the way, was Smiling Billy, the same one the sol-
diers called " one game little guy." " It will take a three-
ton truck to get us out of this hole ! "

" I haven't got a truck but I guess we can turn the trick
all right ! " said the soldier.

He disappeared into the darkness above the crater and
in a moment reappeared with ten more dark forms follow-

152 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

ing him, and another soldier who patrolled the rim of the
crater on horseback.

" How do you like ^em ? " he chuckled to the Salvation
Army men, as he turned his flashlight on the ten and showed
them to be big German prisoners of war. Under his direc-
tion they soon had the little Ford pushed and shouldered
into the road once more. In a little while the Salvationists
reached their destination and found to their relief that the
rumor about the lassies was untrue.

At Mesnil-St.-Firmin one of the lassies, a young woman
well known in New York society circles, but a loyal Salva-
tionist and in France from the start, drove a little flivver
carrying supplies for several nights, accompanied only by a
young boy detailed from the Army. Every mile of the
way was dark and perilous, but there was no one else to do
the work, so she did it.

Here they were under shell fire every night. The girls
slept in an old wine cellar, the only comparatively safe
place to be found. It was damp, with a fearful odor they
will never forget — moreover, it was already inhabited by
rats. They frequently had to retire to the cellar during gas
attacks, and stay for hours, sometimes having only time to
seize an overcoat and throw it over their night-clothes.
They were here through ten counter-attacks and when
Cantigny was taken.

There seemed to be big movements among the Germans
one day. They were bringing up reinforcements, and a
large attack was expected. The airplanes were dropping
bombs freely everywhere and it looked as if there would not
be one brick left on the top of another in a few hours. Then
the military authorities ordered the two girls to leave town.

When the boys heard that the hut was being shelled and
the girls were ordered to leave they poured in to tell them

THE SALVATION ARMY 153

how much they would miss them. They well knew from
experience that their staunch hardworking little friends
would not have left them if they could have helped it. Also,
they dreaded to lose these consecrated young women from
their midst. They had a feeling that their presence
brought the presence of the great God, with His protec-
tion, and in this they had come to trust in their hour of
danger. Often the boys would openly speak of this, owning
that they attributed their safety to the presence of their
Christian friends.

One young officer from the officers' mess where the girls
had dined once at their invitation, brought them boxes of
candy, and in presenting them said :

" Gee ! We shall miss you like the devil ! "

The lassie twinkled up in a merry smile and answered :

" That sure is some comparison ! ''

The officer blushed as red as a peony and tried to
apologize :

" Well, now, you know what I mean. I don't know just
how to say how much we shall miss you ! "

They left at midnight on foot accompanied by one of
the Salvation Army men workers who had been badly
gassed and needed to get back of the lines and have some
treatment. It was brilliant moonlight as they hiked it
down the road, the airplanes were whizzing over their heads
and the anti-aircraft guns piling into them.

They started for La Folie, the Headquarters of the
Staif-Captain of that zone, but they lost their way and got
far out of the track, arriving at last at Breteuil. Coming
to the woods a Military Police stationed at the crossroads
told them :

" You can't go into Breteuil because they have been
shelling it for twenty minutes. Right over there beyond

154 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

where you are standing a bomb dropped a few minutes ago
and killed or wounded seven fellows. The ambulance just
took them away/^

However, as they did not know where else to go they
went into Breteuil, and found the village deserted of all
but French and American Military Police. They tried to get
directions, and at last found a French mule team to take
them to La Folic, where they finally arrived at four o'clock
in the morning.

The next day they went on to Tartigny, where they were
to be located for a time.

One of the lassies left her sister with the canteen one
day and started out with another Officer to the Divisional
Gas Officer to get a new gas mask, for something had hap-
pened to hers. As they reached a crossroads a boy on a
wheel called out : " Oh, they're shelling the road I Pull
into the village quick ! "

When they arrived in the village there was a great shell
just fallen in the very centre of the town. The girl thought
of her sister all alone in the canteen, for the shells were
falling everywhere now, and they started to take a short
cut back to Tartigny, but the Military Police stopped them,
saying they couldn't go on that road in the daytime as it
was under observation, so they had to go back by the road
they had come. The canteen was at the gateway of a
chateau, and when they reached there they saw the shells
falling in the chateau yard and through the glass roof of
the canteen. It was a trying time for the two brave girls.

They had been invited out to dinner that evening at the
Officers' Mess. As a rule, they did not go much among the
officers, but this was a special invitation. The shells had
been falling all the afternoon, but they were quite accus-
tomed to shells and that did not stop the festivities. Dur-

THE SALVATION ARMY 155

ing the dinner the soldier boys sang and played on guitars
and banjos. But when the dinner was over they asked
the girls to sing.

It was very still in the mess hall as the two lovely
lassies took their guitars and began to sing. There was
something so strong and sweet and pure in the glance of
their blue eyes, the set of their firm little chins, so pleas-
ant and wholesome and merry in the very curve of their
lips, that the men were hushed with respect and admiration
before this highest of all types of womanhood.

It was a song written by their Commander that the girls
had chosen, with a sweet, touching melody, and the singers
made every word clear and distinct ;

Bowed beneath the garden shades,
Where the Eastern sunlight fades,
Through a sea of griefs He wades.

And prays in agony.
His sweat is of blood.
His tears like a flood

For a lost world flow down.
I never knew such tears could be —

Those tears He wept for me!

Hung upon a rugged tree
On the hill of Calvary,
Jesus suffered death, to be

The Saviour of mankind.
His brow pierced by thorn.
His hands and feet torn.

With broken heart He died.
I never knew such pain could be.

This pain He bore for me!

Suddenly crashing into the midst of the melody came a
great shell, exploding just outside the door and causing
everyone at the table to spring to his feet. The singers
stopped for a second, wavered, as the reverberation of the

156 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

shock died away, and then went on with their song; and
the officers, abashed, wondering, dropped back into their
seats marvelling at the calmness of these frail women in
the face of death. Surely they had something that other
women did not have to enable them to sing so unconcern-
edly in such a time as this !

Love which conquered o'er death's sting,
Love which has immortal wing,
Love which is the only thing

My broken heart to heal.
It burst through the grave.
It brought grace to save,

It opened Heaven's gate.
I never knew such love could be —

This love He gave to me !

It needs some special experience to appreciate what Sal-
vation Army lassies really are, and what they have done.
They are not just any good sort of girl picked up here and
there who are willing to go and like the excitement of the
experience; neither are they common illiterate girls who
merely have ordinary good sense and a will to work. The
majority of them in France are fine, well-bred, carefully
reared daughters of Christian fathers and mothers who
have taught them that the home is a little bit of heaven on
earth, and a woman God's means of drawing man nearer to
Him. They have been especially trained from childhood
to forget self and to live for others. The great slogan of
the Salvation Army is " Others." Did you ever stop to
think how that would take the coquetry out of a girl's
eyes, and leave the sweet simplicity of the natural unspoiled
soul ? We have come to associate such a look with a plain,
homely face, a dull complexion, careless, severe hair-dress-
ing and unbeautiful clothes. Why?

Righteousness from babyhood has given to these girls

THE SALVATION ARMY 157

delicate beautiful features, clear complexions that neither
faded nor had to be renewed in the thick of battle, eyes
that seemed flecked with divine lights and could dance with
mirth on occasion or soften exquisitely in sympathy, fur-
tive dimples that twinkled out now and then; hands that
were shapely and did not seem made for toil. Yet for all
that they toiled night and day for the soldiers. They were
educated, refined, cultured, could talk easily and well on
almost any subject you would mention. They never ap-
peared to force their religious views to the front, yet all
the while it was perfectly evident that their religion was
the main object of their lives; that this was the secret
source of strength, the great reason for their deep joy, and
abiding calm in the face of calamities; that this was the
one great purpose in life which overtopped and conquered
all other desires. And if you would break through their
sweet reserve and ask them they would tell you that Jesus
and the winning of souls to Him was their one and only
ambition.

And yet they have not let these great things keep them
from the pleasant little details of life. Even in the olive
drab flannel shirt and serge skirt of their uniform, or in
their trim serge coats, the exact counterpart of the sol-
dier boy^s, except for its scarlet epaulets, and the little
close trench hat with its scarlet shield and silver lettering,
they are beautiful and womanly. Catch them with the coat
off and a great khaki apron enveloping the rest of their
uniform, and you never saw lovelier women. No wonder
the boys loved to see them working about the hut, loved to
carry water and pick up the dishes for washing, and peel
apples, and scrape out the bowl after the cake batter had
been turned into the pans. No wonder they came to these
girls with their troubles, or a button that needed sewing on.

158 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

and rushed to them first with the glad news that a letter
had come from home even before they had opened it. These
girls were real women, the kind of woman God meant us
all to be when He made the first one ; the kind of woman
who is a real helpmeet for all the men with whom she comes
in contact, whether father, brother, friend or lover, or merely
an acquaintance. There is a fragrance of spirit that
breathes in the very being, the curve of the cheek, the
glance of the eye, the grace of a movement, the floating of a
sunny strand of hair in the light, the curve of the firm red
lips that one knows at a glance will have no compromise
with evil. This is what these girls have.

You may call it what you will, but as I think of them I
am again reminded of that verse in the Bible about those
brave and wonderful disciples : " And they took knowledge
of them that they had been with Jesus.^'

Two of the Salvation Army men went back to Mesnil-
St.-Firmin the day after the lassies had been obliged to
leave, to get some of their belongings which they had not
been able to take with them, and one of them, a Salvation
Army Major, stayed to keep the place open for the boys.
He was the only Salvation Army man who is entitled to
wear a wound stripe. By his devotion to duty, self-sacrifice,
and contempt of danger, he won the confidence of the men
wherever he was. He chiefly worked alone and operated a
canteen usually in a dugout at the front.

On one occasion a soldier was badly wounded at the
door of a hut, by an exploding gas-shell. He fell into the
dugout and while the Major worked over him, the Major
himself was gassed and had to be removed to the rear and
undergo hospital treatment. For this service he was
awarded a wound stripe. During the St. Mihiel offensive
he was appointed in the Toul Sector and followed up the

THE SALVATION ARMY 159

advancing soldiers, and later was active in the Argonne.
He is essentially a front-line man and always takes the
greatest satisfaction in being in the place of most danger.

The following is a brief excerpt from his diary when he
manned the dugout hut in CouUemelle :

May 12.

" Arrived in CouUemelle Sunday night, May 12. Was
busy with my work by mid-day, Monday, 13. After clean-
ing our dugout, gave medicine to sick man, who refused
to sJeep in my bed because he was not fit. However, I made
him feel fine, helped. I had a long talk with the boys.

Tuesday, IJ^: Shell struck opposite to dugout and sent
tiles down steps. The Captain of E Battery visited me
to-day, and then I visited the Battery and had chow with
them. Airplane fight: while batteries were roaring, the
Germans came down in flames.

Wednesday, 15: No coming to dugout in the day-time
on account of shelling. I did good business in the evening
and also had long services by request of the boys. Eeceived
a letter from B here to-day, I slept good.

Thursday, 16: I visited army, the officers and men
of F Battery. Their chow kitchen is in a bad place, all
men coming down sick. I had an arrangement with the
doughboys that they might come in my dugout any hour
in the night, whenever they wanted. I visited infantry
officers to-day, Capt. Cribbs and Capt. Crisp, I had a lovely
talk with them. I offered to go to the trenches with my
goods, but Capt. Cribbs said I would just be killed without
doing what he knew I wanted to do, namely, serve the boys
with food and encourage them.

Friday, 17 : I was startled by a fearful barrage at four
o'clock when I got up, washed my clothes : was visited by the

160 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

Y. M. C. A. Secretary : was shelled from five o'clock till ten
o'clock. I went for chow and found shell ball gone through
kitchen. High explosive, black smoke shells bursting in-
termittently, tiles fell into my dugout. I took pick shovel
in with me; my kitten ran away but came back. A three-
legged cat came to the ruined home where I am; its leg
evidently had been cut off by shrapnel. Great air fight all
day. Incendiary shells were fired into the town and burnt
for a long time. I visited Battery F, and gave the fellows
medicine. To-day both officers and men were in the gun
pits and I with them, while they were deviling with Fritzy.
Big business in evening with long service, gave out Testa-
ments and held service in dugout; got a Frenchman to
interpret the scripture to his comrades. Eequests for
prayer. Doughboys came in 12 : 30, through a barrage, and
got sixty-five bars of chocolate, others got biscuits. I am
very, very tired ; artillery is roaring as I go to sleep.

Saturday, 18: Capt. Cribbs cam.e down to dugout and
said he was worried to death over me (thought I was killed) .
I assured him I was all 0. K., and that it was their end of
the town that needed looking after. He laughed and en-
joyed it. My supplies are kept up by the courage and
devotion of the Staff-Captain and Billy, who, taking their
lives in their hands, bring the Ford with supplies along
the shell-torn road at great peril. Capt. Corliss also came.

During the day, the officer of Battery F wanted the
Victrola and got the use of it in their dugout for three
days. In the meantime I had furnished Battery D the
use of the Victrola and the day I made the promise, I
found the boys without chow for twelve hours. When
about to serve it, the town was gassed and their food with
it and no one was permitted to touch a thing, they were
blessing the Kaiser as only soldiers can under such cir-

THE SALVATION ARMY 161

cumstances. When I arrived among them, after finding
out the way of things, I suggested to the officers that I
should be permittedi to supply them with ©uch food as I
had. They assured me it would be a mighty good thing
for them if I would, and I took four boxes of biscuits and
six pots of jam and other things to their trench in the rear
of their batteries — they surely thought I was an angel and
I left them pretty happy. This was all done imder fire and
at great risk. I chowed with Battery E and saw shell hole
through building which was new since my last visit —
boys offer to teach me how to work gun, their spirit is won-
derful under the terrific strain which they labor. I vis-
ited ruined church and went inside ; here were some graves
of the French soldiers, some of the bodies being exposed.
Could not stay very long. Overtook soldier-boy limping,
got him to stay awhile and gave him hot chocolate ; persuaded
him to let his limb be seen to, which he did, and was sent
to hospital. I visited hospital corps-fellows and arranged
that in case of gas, they would visit and rouse me at night.
They are fine fellows. Doughboys bought lots of goods
and blessed the Salvation Army a thousand times. These
lads come in from the trenches and have some hair-raising
stories to tell.

Sunday, 19* Quiet till the afternoon when a gas bar-
rage started. I was driven out of my dugout. I hud a
narrow escape, while reaching the hospital corps dugout.
Lieut. Eoolan (since promoted), of the Fifth Field Artil-
lery, was there for two hours and half. 480 shells, I was
informed, came down, averaging up three and four per
minute. All night, from 6 o'clock to 3 a.m., 3000 shells are
sent into the town. I slept in the Headquarters Signal
Corps dugout with my gas mask on all night.

Monday, 20: Visited Y. M. C. A. and found their dug-
11

162 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

out had been struck and the Secretary's eyes were gassed
after a man took his place. I saw Colonel Crane to try
and get out of my dugout and get the one he had left.
H© gave me permission, assuring me that it was not a
very good one at that. I took my Victrola with two of the
battery boys from F Battery. I carried the records and
they the Yictrola. We dodged the shelling all the way
and I had the pleasure of hearing the " Swanee River ''
song at the same time as the firing of the big guns much to
the enjoyment of the boys. I understand that General
Siimmerall visited and heard the Victrola soon after I had
taken it to the boys. I placed about fifty books among
officers of the Hospital Corps, Infantry officers, Battery
officers. They were highly appreciated. I slept with Sig-
nal Corps boys again as Fritzy decided to continue the bom-
bardment of the town which he did from 5.30 p.m. to 5.30
A.M. I slept with mask on and had no ill effects of the gas
at all so far; but about five o'clock a terrific crash just out-
fiide of my dugout followed by a man shouting as he rushed
down the dugout steps, " Oh, God, get me to the doctor
right away." That shell nearly got me. I was only eight
feet from it. I sprung up and rushed him from the dug-
out over to the hospital. I had to chase around from one
•dugout to another and finally landed my man (his' name
was Harry), who was taken to the hospital.

Tuesday, 21: After taking the man to the doctor, I
went to my own place and found a nine-inch gas shrapnel
shell had burst 15 or 20 feet from my dugout, about fifteen
holes were torn through the door, the top of the shell lay
eix feet from the top of the steps, pieces of the shell were
scattered down the steps, and my dugout to the gas cur-
tain, was full of gas. If Staff-Captain and Billy had been
vigiting me that night, the shell would have hit the Ford

THE SALVATION ABMY 163

rigiht in the center. Fierce bombardment all the day.
Houses were struck on the entire street from end to end.
Shells fell in the yard, one struck the comer of the house.
The soldiers next door have gone, and my place can only
be opened in the evenings. Things are pretty hot, I started
out visiting the batteries to-day, but was driven back and
could get out only by the back entrance to the yard. I
am told by a soldier of the Intelligence Dept., that their
bombardment is what is known as a ^^ Million-Dollar Bar-
rage," and that all were fortunate to have passed through
it, he also told me the number and nature of the shells.
I served hot chocolate this Tuesday night and noticed that
my hands were very red.

Wednesday, 22: I visited the Battery in their trenches
again and took them food. My eyes are affected by the gas,
and I got treatment at the Evacuating Hospital. Some
shells come very close to my dugout — to-day thirty feet,
fifty feet and twenty feet. I gather up a box full of rem-
nants. I find I am gassed by a contact with the poor fel-
low coming in whom I took to the doctor. I get treatment
two or three times for my eyes and throat. My hands be-
gin to crack and smart. The flesh comes off from my neck
and other parts of my body. I had a fine meeting with
boys in dugout and am again visited by the doughboys and
officers. I visit the ruined church area again and get a
few relics.

Thursday, 23: My eyes are very red and becoming pain-
ful and also my throat and nose, etc. I plan to move my
dugout and pack up accordingly. Things are quieter to-
day; had services again in the evening. French school-
master among the number, six requests for prayer.

Friday, 2J^: Am all ready to move to a new dugout
when Staff-Captain arrives and tells me I am ordered out
by the military."

164 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

Here is the Military Order received by the Staff-
Captain :
" To Major Coe,
^^ Salvation Army :

*^^(1) Major Wilson, Chief Gl, directs that the Salva-
tion Army evacuate ^ Coullemelle ^ as soon as possible.

"(2) He desires that they leave to-night if possible.

'^(3) This message was received by me from the office

of Gl.

"L. Johnson,

"1st Lieut., F. A."

Orders also arrived soon for the removal of the Salvation
Army workers in Broyes :

'^Headquarters, 1st Division,
G-1. '^ American Expeditionary Forces,

''Junes, 1919.
"Memorandum: To Mr. L. A. Coe, Salvation Army, La
Folie.

" The hut, which it is understood the Salvation Army
is operating in Broyes, will, for military reasons, be re-
moved from there as soon a5 practicable.

" It is contrary to the desire of the Commanding Gen-
eral that women workers be employed in huts or canteens
east of the line Mory-Chepoix-Tartigny, and if any are
now so located they are to be removed.

" The operations of technical services. Red Cross, Y.
M. C. A., and other similar agencies is a function of this
section of the General Staff and all questions pertaining
to your movements and location of huts should in the future
te referred to G.-l.

"By command of Major General Bullard.

^'G. K WlLSOIT,

"Major, General Staff,
"A. C. of S., G.-l/'

THE SALVATION ARMY 165

In Tartigny they found a house with five rooms, one
of them very large. The billeting officer turned this over
to the Salvation Army.

There was plenty of space and the girls might have a
room to themselves here, instead of just curtaining off
a corner of a tent or making a partition of supply boxes
in one end of the hut as they often had to do. There was
also plenty of furniture in the house, and they were allowed
to go around the village and get chairs and tables or any-
thing they wanted to fijx up their canteen. The girls had
great fun selecting easy-chairs and desks and anything they
desired from the deserted houses, and before long the re-
sult was a wonderfully comfortable, cozy, home-like room.

^'^ Gee ! This is just like heaven, coming in here ! '^ one
of the boys said when he first saw it.

Just outside Tartigny there was a large ammunition
dump, piles of shells and boxes of other ammunition. It
was under the trees and well camouflaged, but night after
night the enemy airplanes kept trying to get it. The girls
used to sit in the windows and watch the airplane battles.
They would stay until an airplane got over the house and
then they would run to the cellar. They came so close one
night that pieces of shell from the anti-aircraft guns fell
over the house.

Sometimes the airplanes would come in the daytime,
and the girls got into the habit of running out into the
street to watch them. But at this the boys protested.

" Don't do that, you will get hit ! " they begged. And
one day the nose of an unexploded shell fell in the street
just outside the door. After that they were more careful.

In this town one afternoon a whole truck-load of
oranges arrived, being three hundred crates, four hundred
oranges to a crate, for the canteen, and they were all gone
by four o'clock!

166 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

The Headquarters of tlie Division Commander were in
a beautiful old stone chateau of a peculiar color that seemed
to be invisible to the airplanes. There were woods all
around it and the house was never shelled. It was filled
with rare old tapestries and beautiful furniture.

The Count who owned the chateau asked the Major
General to get some furniture that belonged to him out of
the village that was being shelled. Later the Count asked
the General if he ever got that furniture. The General
asked his Colonel, " What did you do with that furniture ? "
'' Oh," the Colonel said, " it's down there aU right !" " And
where is the piano ? " '^ Oh, I gave that to the Salvation
Army."

In this area it was one lassie's first bombardment; it
came suddenly and without warning. The soldiers in the
hut decamped without ceremony for the safety of their
dugouts. One soldier who had been detailed to help the
lassie, shouted : " Come on ! Follow me to your dugout ! "
Without further talk he turned and started for cover. The
girl had been baking. A tray full of luscious lemon cream
pies stood on the table. She did not want to leave those
pies to the tender mercies of a shell. Also she had some
new boots standing beneath the table, and sihe was not going
to lose those. Without stopping to think, she seized the
shoes in one hand and the tray in the other and rushed
after the soldier. A little gully had to be crossed on the
way to the dugout and the only bridge was a twelve-inch
plank. The soldier crossed in safety and turned to look
after the girl. Just as she reached the middle of the plank
a shell burst not far away. The lassie was so startled that
she nearly lost her balance, swaying first one way and then
the other. In an attempt to stop the tray of pies from
slipping, she almost lost the shoes, and in recovering the

THE SALVATION ARMY 167

shoes, the pies just escaped sliding overboard into the
thick mud below.

The soldier registered deep agitation.

'^ Drop the shoes ! ^' he shouted. *^ I can clean the
ehoes, but for heaven's sake don't drop them pies ! " And
the lassie obeyed meekly.

In the little town of Bonnet where the rest room was
located in an old bam connected with a Catholic convent,
one Salvation Army Envoy and his wife from Texas be-
gan their work. They soon became known to the soldiers
f aaniliarly as " Pa '' and " Ma."

It was in this old bam that the tent top, later made
famous at Ansauville, was first used. Stoves were almost
impossible to obtain at that time, but " Ma '^ was deter-
mined that she would bake pies for the men, so the Envoy
constructed axi oven out of two tin cake boxes land using
a small two-burner gasoline stove, ^' Ma " baked biscuits
and pies that made her name famous. Through her great
motherly heart and her willingness to serve the boys at
all times, under all circumstances, she won their confidence
and love. One soldier said he would walk five miles any
day to look into '' Ma's " gray eyes.

From Bonnet they were transferred to command a hut
at Ansauville, but '^ Ma " could never rest so long as there
was a soldier to be served in any way. She worked early
and late, and she made each individual soldier who came
to the hut her special charge as if he were her own. son.
She could not sleep when they were going over the top
unless she prayed with each one before he went.

The meetings which she and her husband held were
full of life and power and were never neglected, no mat-
ter how hard the strain might be from other lines of
servica

168 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

It was not long before ^' Ma's " strength, gave out and
it was necessary to move her to a quieter place. She was
transferred to Houdelainecourt. She would not go until
they carried her away.

Houdelainecourt at this time was on the main road
travelled by trucks, taking supplies by train from the rail-
road at Gondrecourt to the front. Truck drivers invariably
made it a point to stop at " Mia's '' hut and here they were
always sure to receive a welcome and the most delicious
doughnuts and pies and hot biscuit which loving hands
could make.

Not satisfied with, this service alone, she undertook to
fry pancakes for the officers' breakfast. It was through
these kindly services, ungrudgingly done, at any time of the
day or night, that her name was established as one of the
most potent factors in contributing to the comfort and
welfare of the men, and there was no hole or tear of the
men's clothes that " Ma " could not mend.

A short time after the pie contest over at Gondrecourt,
'^Ma" and one of her lassie helpers set out to break the
record of 316 pies as a day's work. Their oven would hold
but six pies at a time ; their hut had but just been opened
and all their equipment had not yet arrived, so they were
short a rolling pin, which had to be carved from a broken
wagon-shaft vtdth a jack-knife before they could begin; but
they achieved the baking of 324 pies between G a.m. and
6 P.M. that day. It is fair to state for the sake of the
doubter, however, that the pie fillers, both pumpkin and
apple, were all prepared and piping hot on the stove ready
to be poured into the pastry as it was put into the oven,
wiiich, of course, helped a good deal.

A sign was put out announcing that pie would be served
at seven o'clock, but the lines formed long before that.

THE SALVATION ARMY 169

The pies were unusually large and cut into fifths, but even
at that they were much larger pieces than are usually
served at the ordinary restaurant.

By half -past eight some men were falling in for a sec-
ond helping, but '' Ma " had been watching long a little
company of men o2 to one side who hovered about yet
never dropped into line themselves, and made up her
mind that these were some of those who perhaps sent much
of their money home and found it a long time between
pay-days. Casting her kindly eye comprehendingly toward
these men she mounted a chair and requested:

'^ All of the men who have already had pie, please step
out of the line ; and all of those boys who want coffee and
pie but have no money, step into line and get some,
anyhow! "

She gave the boys one of her beautiful motherly smiles
and that made them feel they had all got home, and they
hesitated no longer. " Ma/' however, was more deeply in-
terested in her meetings than in mere pie. The Sunday
before this contest over five hundred soldiers had attended
the evening meeting, and almost as many had been pres-
ent at the morning service. Also, there had been twenty-
eight members added to her Bible class. Though the hut
was a large one it had been crowded to its utmost capacity
in the evening, with men packed into the open doorways
and windows on either side, and forty of the men who an-
nounced their determination to follow Christ that night
could not get inside to come forward. More than a dozen
gave personal testimony of what Christ had done for them.
One notable testimony was as follows :

" I used to be a hard guy fellers," he said, '^ and maybe
I had some good reasons when I used to say that nothing was
ever going to scare me, but when we lay out there with a six-

170 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

hour barrage busting right in front of us and ^arrivals'
busting all around us, I did a whole lot of thinking. It
seemed as though every shell had my number on it ! And
when we went over and ran square into their barrage, I'll
admit I was scared yellow and was darned afraid I was
going to show it ! We were under a barrage for ten hours.
A shell buried me under about a foot of earth, and for the
first time I can remember, while my bunkie was digging
me out, I prayed to God. And I want to say that I believe
He answered my prayer, -and that is the only reason I came
out uninjured. I promised if I got out I'd call for a new
deal, and I want to say that I'm going to keep that
promise ! '^

A boy who had been converted in one of the meetings a
few nights before came into the hut and sought her out.
He told her he was going over the top that night, and he
had something he wanted to confess before he went. He
had told a lie and he had felt terrible remorse about it ever
since he was converted. He had treated his mother badly,
and gone and enlisted, saying he was eighteen when he
was only sixteen. '^ ISTow," said he with relief after he had
told the story, ^^that's all clear. And say, if I'm killed,
will you go through my pockets and find my Testament
and send it to mother? And will you tell my mother all
about it and tell her it is all right with me now? Tell
mother I went over the top a Christian. You'll know what
to say to her to help her bear up."

She promised and the boy went away content. That
night he was killed, and, true to her promise, she went
through his pockets when he was brought back, and found
the little Testament close over his heart ; and in it a verse
was marked for his mother:

'^ The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from
all sin."

THE SALVATION ARMY 171

During the early days of the Salvation Army work in
France, while the work was still under inspection as to its
influence on the men, and one Colonel had sent a Captain
around to the meetings to report upon them to him,
"Ma's" was one of the meetings to which the Captain
came.

She did not know that she was under suspicion, but
that night she spoke on obedience and discipline, taking
las her text : ^^ Take heed to the law," and urging the men
to obey both moral and military laws so that' they might
be better men and better soldiers. The Captain reported
on her sermon and said that he wished the regiment had
a Salvation Army chaplain for every company.

The hospital visitation work was started by " Ma " in
the Paris hospitals while she was in that city for several
months regaining her strength after a physical break-down
at the front. She was idolized by the wounded. If she
walked along any hospital passageway or through any ward,
a crowd of men were sure to call her by name. They knew
her as " Ma," and frequently, overworked nurses have called
up the Paris Salvation Army Headquarters asking if Ma
could not find time to come down and sit with a dying boy
who was calling for her. She observed their birthdays
with books and other smaU presents, wrote to their mothers,
wives and sweethearts, and performed a multitude of in-
valuable, precious little services of love. For weeks after
she left Paris, returning to the front, the wounded called
for her. She is one of the outstanding figures of the Salva-
tion Army's work with the American Expeditionary Forces
in France. She is indelibly enshrined in the hearts of hun-
dreds of American soldiers.

A Salvation Army lassie bent over the bed of a wounded
boy recently arrived in the Paris hospital from the front,
ajad gave him an orange and a little sack of candy.

172 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

" I know the Salvation Army," he said with a faint
smile, " I knew I should find you here."

She asked him his division and he told her he belonged
to one that had been cooperating with the French.

" But how can that be ? '^ she asked in surprise, " we
have never worked with your division. How do you know
about us ? "

" I only saw the Salvation Army once,'' he replied, " but
111 never forget it. It was when I came back to conscious-
ness in the Dressing Station at Cheppy, and the first thing
I saw was a Salvation Army girl bending over me washing
the blood and dirt off my face with cold water. She looked
like an angel and she was that to me. She gave me a drink
of cold lemonade when I was burning up with fever, and
she lifted my head to pour it between my lips when I had
not strength to move myself. No, I shall not forget ! "

One bright young fellow with a bandaged eye turned a
cheerful grin toward the Salvation Army visitor as she said
with compassion : " Son, I'm sorry you've lost your eye."

" Oh, that's nothing," was the gay reply, " I can see
everything out of the other eye. I've got seven holes in me,
too, but believe me I'm not going home for the loss of an
eye and seven holes ! I'll get out yet and get into the fight !"

The Salvation Army officer and his wife who were sta-
tioned at Bonvillers visited every man in the local hospital
every day, sleeping every night in the open fields. As they
are quite elderly, this was no little hardship, especially in
rainy weather.

Five lassies stationed at ISToyers St. Martin were for
several weeks forced by the nightly shelling and air-raids
to take their blankets out into the fields at night and
sleep under the stars. One of these girls was called " Sun-
shine " because of her smile.

THE SALVATION ARMY 173

On the eve of Decoration Day a military Colonel visited
her in the hut. He seemed rather depressed, perhaps by
the ceremonies of the day, and said that he had come to be
cheered up. In parting he said, " Little girl, you had better
get out of town early to-night ; I feel as though something
is going to happen.'^ Less than an hour later, while the
girls were just preparing for the night in a field half a mile
distant, an aerial bomb dropped by an aviator on the house
in which he was billeted killed him and two other Captains
who were sitting with him at the time. He had been a
great friend of the Salvation Army.

Out in a little village in Indiana there grew a fair
young flower of a girl. Her mother was a dear Christian
woman and she was brought up in her mother's church,
which she loved. When she was only twelve years old she
had a remarkable and thorough old-fashioned conversion,
giving herself with all her childish heart to the Saviour.
She feels that she had a kind of vision at that time of what
the Lord wanted her to be, a call to do some special work
for Christ out in the world, helping people who did not
know Him, people who were sick and poor and sorrowful.
She did not tell her vision to anyone. She did not even
know that anywhere in the world were any people doing the
kind of work she felt she would like to do, and God had
called her to do. She was shy about it and kept her
thoughts much to herself. She loved her own church, and
its services, but somehow that did not quite satisfy her.

One day when she was about fourteen years old the Sal-
vation Army came to the town where she lived and opened
work, holding its meetings in a large hall or armory. With
her young companions she attended these meetings and
was filled with a longing to be one of these earnest Christian
workers.

174 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

Her mother, accustomed to a quiet conventional church
and its way of doing Christian work, was horrified ; and in
alarm sent her away to visit her uncle, who was a Baptist
minister. The daughter, dutiful and sweet, went willingly
away, although she had many a longing for these new
friends of hers who seemed to her to have found the way of
working for God that had been her own heart's desire for
so long.

Meantime her gay young brother, curious to know
what had so stirred his bright sister, went to the Salva-
tion Army meetings to find out, and was attracted himself.
He went again and found Jesus Christ, and himself joined
the Salvation Army. The mother in this case did not
object, perhaps because she felt that a boy needed more
safeguards than a girl, perhaps because the life of publicity
would not trouble her so much in connection with her eon
as with her daughter.

The daughter after several months away from home
returned, only to find her longing to join the Salvation
Army stronger. But quietly and sweetly she submitted to
her mother's wish and remained at home for some years,
like her Master before her, who went down to His home in
Nazareth and was subject to His father and mother ; show-
ing by her gentle submission and her lovely life that she
really had the spirit of God in her heart and was not merely
led away by her enthusiasm for something new and strange.

When she was twenty her mother withdrew her objec-
tions, and the daughter became a Salvationist, her mother
coming to feel thoroughly in sympathy with her during
the remaining years she lived.

This is the story of one of the Salvation Army lassies
who has been giving herself to the work in the huts over in
France. She is still young and lovely, and there is some-

A LETTER OF INSPIRATION FROM THE COMMANDER

THE SALVATION ARMY 175

thing about her delicate features and slender grace that
makes one think of a young saint. No wonder the soldiers
almost worshipped her! No wonder these lassies were as
safe over there ten miles from any other woman or any other
civilian alone among ten thousand soldiers, as if they had
been in their own homes. They breathed the spirit of God
as they worked, as well as when they sang and prayed. To
such a girl a man may open his heart and find true help
and strength.

It was no uncommon thing for our boys who were so
afraid of anything like religion or anything personal over
here, to talk to these lassies about their souls, to ask them
what certain verses in the Bible meant, and to kneel with
them in some quiet corner behind the chocolate boxes and
be prayed with, yes, and pray! It is because these girls
have let the Christ into their lives so completely that He
lives and speaks through them, and the boys cannot help
but recognize it.

Not every boy who was in a Salvation hut meeting
has given himself to Christ, of course, but every one of
them recognizes this wonderful something in these girls.
Ask them. They will tell you *^ She is the real thing ! '^
They won't tell you more than that, perhaps, unless they
have really grown in the Christian life, but they mean that
they have recognized in her spirit a Likeness to the spirit
of Christ.

Now and then, of course, there was a thick-headed one
who took some minutes to recognize holiness. Such would
enter a hut with an oath upon his lips, or an unclean story,
and straightway all the men who were sitting at the tables
writing or standing about the room would come to atten-
tion with one of those little noisy silences that mea.n. so

176 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

much; pencils would click down on the table like a chal-
lenge, and the newcomer would look up to find the cold
glances of his fellows upon him.

The boys who frequented the huts broke the habit of
swearing and telling unclean stories, and officers began to
realize that their men were better in their work because of
this holy influence that was being thrown about them. One
officer said his men worked better, and kept their engines
oiled up so they wouldn^t be delayed on the road, that they
might get back to the hut early in the evening. The picture
of a girl stirring chocolate kept the light of hope going in
the heart of many a homesick lad.

One ignorant and exceedingly " fresh '^ youth, once
walked boldly into a hut, it is said, and jauntily addressed
the lassie behind the counter as " Dearie.^' The sweet blue
eyes of the lassie grew suddenly cold with aloofness, and
she looked up at the newcomer without her usual smile,
saying distinctly : '"'' What did you say f "

The soldier stared, and grew red and unhappy :

" Oh ! I beg your pardon ! '^ he said, and got himself out
of the way as soon as possible. These lassies needed no
chaperon. They were young saints to the boys they served,
and they had a cordon of ten thousand faithful soldiers
drawn about them night and day. As a military Colonel
said, the Salvation Army lassie was the only woman in
France who was safe unchaperoned.

When this lassie from Indiana came back on a short
furlough after fifteen months in France with the troops,
and went to her home for a brief visit, the Mayor gave the
home town a holiday, had out the band and waited at the
depot in his own limousine for four hours that he might not
miss greeting her and doing her honor.

THE SALVATION ARMY 177

Here is the poem which Pte. Joseph T. Lopes wrote
about '^ Those Salvation Army Folks '^ after the Montdidier
attack :

Somewhere in France, not far from the foe,
There's a body of workers whose name we all know;
Who not only at home give their lives to make right,
But are now here beside us, fighting our fight.
What care they for rest when our boys at the front.
Who, fighting for freedom, are bearing the brunt,
And 80, just at dawn, when the caissons come home,
With the boys tired out and chilled to the bone.
The Salvation Army with its brave little crew,
Are waiting with doughnuts and hot coffee, too.
When dangers and toiling are o'er for awhile,
In their dugouts we find comfort and welcome their smile.
There's a spirit of home, so we go there each night.
And the thinking of home makes us sit down and write.
So we tell of these folks to our loved ones with pride,
And are thanking the Lord to have them on our side. '

12

V.

THE TOUL SECTOR AGAIN.

When the German offensive was definitely checked in
the Montdidier Sector, the First Division was transferred
back to the Toul Sector and the Salvation Army moved
with it. They had in the meantime maintained all the huts
which had been established originally, and with the return
of the First Division, they established additional huts be-
tween Font and Nancy. When the St. Mihiel drive came
off, they followed the advancing troops, establishing huts in
the devastated villages, keeping in as close contact with the
extreme front as was possible, serving the troops day and
night, always aiming to be at the point where the need was
the greatest, and where they could be of the greatest service.

The first Americans to pay the supreme sacrifice in the
cause of liberty were buried in the Toul Sector.

As it drew near to Decoration Day there came a mes-
sage from over the sea from the Commander to her faith-
ful band of workers, saying that she was sending American
flags, one for every American soldier's grave, and that she
wanted the graves cared for and decorated; and at all the
various locations of Salvation Army workers they pre-
pared to do her bidding.

The day before the thirtieth of May they took time
from their other duties to clear away the mud, dead grass
and fallen leaves from the graves, and heap up the mounds
where they had been washed flat by the rains, making each
one smooth, regular and tidy. At the head of each grave
was a simple wooden cross bearing the name of the soldier

178

THE SALVATION ARMY 179

who lay there, his rank, his regimect and the date of his
death. Into the back of each cross they drove a staple for
a flag, and they swept and garnished the place as best they
could.

One Salvation Army woman writing home told of the
plans they had made in Treveray for Decoration Day ; how
Commander Booth was sending enough American flags to
decorate every American grave in France, and how they
meant to gather flowers and put with the flags, and have a
little service of prayer over the graves.

In the gray old French cemetery of Treveray five
American boys lay buried. The flowers upon their graves
were dry and dead, for their regiments had moved on and
left them. The graves had been neglected and only the
guarding wooden crosses remained above the rough earth to
show that someone had cared and had stopped to put a
mark above the places where they lay. It was these graves
the Salvation Army woman now proposed to decorate on
Memorial Day.

The letter went to the Captain for censorship, and soon
the Salvation Army woman had a call from him.

" I understand by one of your letters that you are
thinking of decorating the American graves,^' he said. " We
would like to help in that, if you don't mind. I would like
the company all to be present.'^

The day before Memorial Day this woman with two of
the lassies from the hut went to the cemetery and prepared
for the morrow.

In the morning they gathered great armfuls of crim-
son poppies from the fields, creamy snowballs from
neglected gardens, and blue bachelor buttons from the hill-
sides, which they arranged in bouquets of red, white and blue
for the graves. They had no vases in which to place the

180 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

flowers but they used the apple tins in which the apples for
their pies had been canned.

The centuries-old gray cemetery nestled in a curve of
the road between wheat fields on every side. A gray, moss-
covered, lichen-hung wall surrounded it. The five Ameri-
can graves were under the shadow of the Western wall, and
the sun was slowly sinking in his glory as the company of
soldiers escorted the women into the cemetery. They passed
between the ponderous old gray stones, and beaded wreaths
of the French graves; and the officers and men lined up
facing the five graves. The women placed the tricolored
flowers in the cans prepared for them, and planted the
flags beside them. Then the elder woman, who had sons
of her own, stepped out and saluted the military com-
manding officer : " Colonel,^^ said she, " with your permission
we would like to follow our custom and offer a prayer for
the bereaved.^^ Instantly permission was given and every
head was uncovered as the Salvationist poured out her heart
in prayer to the Everlasting Father, commending the dead
into His ten'der keeping, and pleading for the sorrow-
stricken friends across the sea, until the soldiers' tears fell
unchecked as they stood with rifles stiffly in front of them
listening to the quiet voice of the woman as she prayed.
God seemed Himself to come down, and the living boys
standing over their five dead comrades could not help but
be enfolded in His love, and feel the sense of His presence.
They knew that they, too, might soon be sleeping even as
these at their feet. It seemed but a step to the other life.

When the prayer was finished a firing squad fired five
voUeys over the graves, and then the bugler played the
taps and the little service was over. The lassies lingered
to take pictures of the graves and that night they wrote
letters describing the ceremony, to be sent with the photo-

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COLONEL BARKER PLACING THE COMMANDER S FLOWERS ON
LIEUTENANT QUENTIN ROOSEVELT' S GRAVE

THE SALVATION ARMY 181

graphs to the War Department at Washington with the
request that they be forwarded to the nearest relatives of
the five men buried at Treveray.

There were exercises at Menil-la-Tour and here they
had built a simple platform in the centre of the ground
and erected a flagpole at one corner.

When the morning came two regimental bands took up
their positions in opposite corners of the cemetery and
began to play. The French populace had turned out en
masse. They took up their stand just outside the little
cemetery, next to them the soldiers were lined up, then the
Eed Cross, then the Y. M. C. A. Beyond, a little hill rose
sloping gently to the sky line, and over it a mile away was
the German front, with the shells coming over all the time.

It was an impressive scene as all stood with bared heads
just outside the little enclosure where eighty-one wooden
crosses marked the going of as many brave spirits who had
walked so blithely into the crisis and given their young
lives.

Some French officers had brought a large, beautiful
wreath to do honor to the American heroes, and this was
placed at the foot of the great central flagpole.

The bands played, and they all sang. It was announced
that but for the thoughtfulness and kindness of Com-
mander Evangeline Booth in sending over flags those graves
would have gone undecorated that day.

The Commanding General then came to the front and
behind him walked the Salvation Army lassies bearing the
flags in their arms.

Down the long row of graves he passed. He would take
a flag from one of the girls, slip it in the staple back of the
cross, stand a moment at salute, then pass on to the next.
It was very still that May morning, broken only by the

182 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

awesome boom of battle just over the liill, but to that sound
all had grown accustomed. The people stood with that
hush of sorrow over them which only the majesty of death
can bring to the hearts of a crowd, and there were tears in
many eyes and on the faces of rough soldiers standing there
to honor their comrades who had been called upon to give
their lives to the great cause of freedom.

A little breeze was blowing and into the solemn stillness
there stole a new sound, the silken ripple of the flags as
one by one they were set fluttering from the crosses, like a
soft, growing, triumphant chorus of those to come whose
lives were to be made safe because these had died. As if
the flag would waft back to the Homeland, and the stricken
mothers and fathers, sisters and sweethearts, some idea of
the greatness of the cause in which they died to comfort
them in their sorrow.

Out through each line the General passed, placing the
flags and solemnly saluting, till eighty graves had been
decorated and there was only one left; but there was no
flag for the eighty-first grave ! Somehow, although they
thought they had brought several more than were needed,
they were one short. But the General stood and saluted the
grave as he had the others, and later the flag was brought
and put in place, so that every American grave in the Toul
Sector that day had its flag fluttering from its cross.

Then the General and the soldiers saluted the large
flag. It was an impressive moment with the deep thunder
of the guns just over the hill reminding of more battle and
more lives to be laid down.

The General then addressed the soldiers, and facing
toward the West and pointing he said :

" Out there in that direction is Washington and the
President, and all the people of the United States, who are

THE SALVATION ARMY 183

looking to you to set the world free from tyranny. Over
there are the mothers who have bade you good-bye with
tears and sent you forth, and are waiting at home and
praying for you, trusting in you. Out there are the fathers
and the sisters and the sweethearts you have left behind,
all depending on you to do your best for the Right. Now,''
said he in a clear ringing voice, " turn and salute America ! ''
And they all turned and saluted toward the West, while
the band played softly '' My Country 'Tis of Thee ! ''

It was a wonderful, beautiful, solemn sight, every man
standing and saluting while the flags fluttered softly on,
the breeze.

Behind the little French Catholic church in the village
of Bonvilliers there was quite a large field which had been
turned over to the Americans for a cemetery. The Mili-
tary Major had caused an arch to be made over the gateway
inscribed with the words: ''NATIONAL CEMETERY
OF THE AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES.''
There were over two hundred graves inside the cemetery.

On Decoration Day the Regimental Band led a parade
through the village streets to the graveyard, the French
women in black and little French children, with wreaths
made of wonderful beaded flowers cunningly constructed
from beads strung on fine wires, marching in the parade.
Arrived at the cemetery they all stood drawn up in line
while the Military Major gave a beautiful address, first in
French and then in English. He then told the French
children and women to take their places one at each grave,
and lay down their tributes of flowers for the Americans.
Following this the Salvation Army placed flags on each
on behalf of the mothers of the boys who were lying there.

It was noon-day. The sun was very bright and every
white cross bearing the name of the fallen glittered in the

184 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

sun. Even the worst little hovel over in France is smoth-
ered in a garden and bright with myriads of flowers, so
everything was gay with blossoms and everybody had
brought as many as could be carried.

Over in one corner of the cemetery were two German
graves, and one of the lassies of that organization which
proclaims salvation for all men went and laid some blos-
soms there also.

At La Folie one of the Salvation Army lassies going
across the fields on some errand of mercy found three
American graves undecorated and bare on Memorial
Day, and turning aside from the road she gathered great
armfuls of scarlet poppies from the fields and came and
laid them on the three mounds, then knelt and prayed for
the friends of the boys whose bodies were lying there.

The whole world was startled and saddened when the
news came that Lieutenant Quentin Eoosevelt had been
shot down in his airplane in action and fallen within the
enemy's lines.

He was crudely buried by the Germans where he fell,
near Chanabray, and a rude cross set up to mark the place.
All around were pieces of his airplane shattered on the
ground and left as they had fallen.

When the spot fell into the hands of the Allies, the
grave was cared for by the Salvation Army; a new white
cross set up beside the old one, and gentle hands smoothed
the mound and made it shapely. On Decoration Day Col-
onel Barker placed upon this grave the beautiful flowers
arranged for by cable by Commander Booth.

The girls went down to decorate the two hundred Ameri-
can graves at Mandres, and even while they bent over the
flaming blossoms and laid them on the mounds an air bat-
tle was going on over their heads. Close at hand was the

I

THE SALVATION ARMY 185

American artillery being moved to the front on a little
narrow-gauge railroad that ran near to the graveyard, and
the Germans were firing and trying to get them.

But the girls went steadily on with their work, scat-
tering flowers and setting flags until their service of love
was over. Then they stood aside for the prayer and a song.
One of the Salvation Army Captains with a fine voice
began to sing :

My loved ones in the Homeland

Are waiting me to come,
Where neither death nor sorrow

Invades their holy home;
O dear, dear native country!

O rest and peace above!
Christ, bring us all to the Homeland

Of Thy redeeming love.

Into the midst of the song cam.e the engine on the little
narrow track straight toward Where he stood, and he had
to step aside onto a pile of dirt to finish his song.

That same Captain went on ahead to the Home Land
not long after when the epidemic of influenza swept over
the world; and he was given the honor of a military
funeral.

YI.

THE BACCARAT SECTOR.

Baccarat was the Zone Headquarters for that Sector.

Down the Main street there hung a sign on an old house
labeled " MODEEN BAR."

Inside everything was all torn up. It had never been
opened since the bcittles of 1914. The Germans had lived
there and everything was in an awful condition. One won-
ders how they endured themselves. The Military detailed
two men for two days to spade up and ca.rry away the
filth from the bedrooms, and it took two women an entire
week all but one day, scrubbing all day long until their
shoulders ached, to scrub the place clean. But they got
it clean. They were the kind of women that did not give
up even when a thing seemed an impossibility. This was
the sort of thing they were up against continually. They
could have no meetings that week, because they had to scrub
and make the place fit for a Salvation Army hut.

Two of the lassies were awakened early one bright morn-
ing by the sound of an axe ringing rhythmically on wood,
just back of their canteen. It was a cheerful sound to
wake to, for the girls had been through a long wearing
day and night, and they knew when they went to sleep
that the wood was almost gone. It was always so pleasant
to have someone offer to cut it for them, for they never
liked to have to ask help of the soldiers if they could pos-
sibly avoid it. But there was so much else to be done
besides cutting wood. Kot that they could not do that,
too, when the need offered. The sisters looked sleepily at
one another, thinking simultaneously of the poor homesick
doughboy who had told them the day before that chopping

186

THE SALVATION ARMY 187

wood for them made him think of home and mother and
that was why he liked to do it. Of course, it was he hard
at work for them before they were up, and they smiled
contentedly, with a lifted prayer for the poor fellow. They
knew he had received no mail for four months and that only
a few days before he had read in a paper sent to one of his
pals of the death of his s-ister. Of course, his heart was
breaking, for he knew what his widowed mother was suf-
fering. They knew that his salvation from homesickness
just now lay in giving him something to do, so they lingered
a little just to give him the chance, and planned how they
would let him help with the doughnuts, and fix the benches,
later, when the wood was cut.

In a few minutes the girls were ready for the day's
work and went around to the kitchen, where the sound of
the ringing axe was still heard in steady strokes. But
when they rounded the corner of the kitchen and greeted
the wood-chopper cheerily, he looked up, and lo ! it was
not the homesick doughboy as they had supposed, but the
Colonel of the regiment himself who smiled half apolo-
getically at them, saying he liked his new job; and when
they invited him to breakfast he accepted the invitation
with alacrity.

After breakfast the girls went to work making pies.
There had been no oven in the little French town in which
they were stationed, and so baking had been impossible,
but the boys kept talking and talking about pies until one
day a Lieutenant found aji old French stove in some ruins.
They had to half bury it in the earth to make it strong
enough for use, but managed to make it work at last, and
though much hampered by the limitations of the small
oven, they baked enough to give all the boys a taste of pie
once a week or so. Pie day was so welcomed that it almost
made a riot, so many boys wanted a slice.

188 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

They were haWng a meeting one night at Baccarat.
There was a great deal of noise going on outside the dug-
out. The shells were falling around rather indiscrimi-
nately, but it takes more than shell fire to stop a Salvation
Army meeting at the front. There is only one thing that
will stop it, and that is a sudden troop movement. It is the
same way with baseball, for the week before this meeting
two regimental baseball teams played seven innings of
air-tight ball while the shells were falling not three hun-
dred yards away at the roadside edge of their ball-ground.
During the seven innings only eight hits were allowed by
the two pitchers. The score was close and when at the
end of the seventh a shell exploded within fifty yards
of the diamond and an officer shouted : " Game called on
account of shell fire ! '' there was considerable dissatisfaction
expressed because the game was not allowed to continue.
It is with the same spirit that the men attend their reli-
gious meetings. They come because they want -to and they
won't let anything interfere with it.

But on this particular night the meeting was in full
force, and so were the shells. It had been a meeting in
which the men had taken part, led by one of the women
whose leadership was unquestioned among them, a per-
sonal testimony meeting in which several soldiers and an
officer had spoken of what Christ had done for them. Then
there was a solo by one of the lassies, and the Adjutant
opened his Bible and began to read. He took as his text
Isaiah 55:1. "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to
the waters, and he that hath no money ; come ye, buy, and
eat.'^

Those boys knew what it was to be thirsty, terrible
thirst! They had come back from the lines sometimes
their tongues parched and their whole bcniies feverish with

THE SALVATION ARMY 189

thirst and there was nothing to be had to drink until the
Salvation Army people had appeared with good cold lem-
onade; and when they had no money they had given it to
them just the same. Oh, they knew what that verse meant
and their attention was held at once as the speaker went
on to show plainly how Jesus Christ would give the water
of life just as freely to those who were thirsty for it. And
they were thirsty! They did not wish to conceal how
thirsty they were for the living water.

Just in the midst of the talk the lights went out. Many
a church under like conditions would have had a panic in
no time, but this crowded audience sat perfectly quiet,
listening as the speaker went on, quoting his Bible from
memory where he could not read.

Over there in the corner on a bench sat the lassies,
the women who had been serving them all through the
hard days, as quiet and calm in the darkness as though they
sat in a cushioned pew in some well-lit church in New
York. It was as if the guns were like annoying little
insects that were outside a screen, and now and then slipped
in, so little attention did the audience pay to them. When
all those who wished to accept this wonderful invitation
were asked to come forward, seven men arose and stumbled
through the darkness. The light from a bursting shell re-
vealed for an instant the forms of these men as they knelt
at the rough bencli in front, one of them with his steel
helmet hanging from his arm as he prayed aloud for his
own salvation. No one wJio was in that meeting that night
could doubt but that Jesus Christ Himself was there, and
that those men all felt His presence.

In Bertrichamps the Salvation Army was given a
large glass factory for a canteen. It made a beautiful
place, and there was room to take care of eight hundred

190 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

men at a time. This building was also used by the Y. M.
C. A. as well as the Jews and the Catholics for their ser-
vices, there being no other suitable place in town. But
everybody worked together, and got along harmoniously.

Here there were some wonderful meetings, and it was
great to hear the boys singing " When The Roll Is Called
Up Yonder, 1^11 Be There.'' Perhaps if some of the half-
hearted Christians at home could have caught the echo
of that song sung with suoh earnestness by those boyish
voices they would have had a revelation. It seemed as if
the earth-film were more than half torn away from their
young, wise eyes over there; and they found that earthly
standards and earthly false-whisperings did not fit. They
felt the spirit of the hour, they felt the spirit of the place,
and of the people who were serving them patiently day
by day; who didn't have to stay there and work; who might
have kept in back of the lines and worked and sent things
up now and then; but who chose to stay close with them
and share their hardships. They felt that something more
than just love to their fellow-onen had instigated such un-
selfishness. They knew it was something they needed to
help them through what was before them. They reached
hungrily after the Christ and they found Him.

Then they testified in the meetings. Often as many as
twelve or more before an audience of five hundred would
get up and tell what Jesus had become to them. In one
meeting in this glass factory two hundred soldiers pledged
to serve the Lord, to read their Bibles, and to pray.

There were in tliis place some Christian boys who came
from families where they had been accustomed to family
worship, and who now that they were far away from it,
looked back mth longing to the days when it had been a
part of every day. Things look difterent over there with

THE SALVATION ARMY 191

the sound of battle close at hand, and customs that had
been a part of every-day life at home became very dear,
perhaps dearer than they had ever seemed before. They
found out that the Salvation Army people had prayers
every night after they closed the canteen at half -past nine
and went to their rooms in a house not far away, and so
they begged that they might share the worship with them.
'So every night they took home fifteen or twenty men to the
living-room of the house where they stayed just as many
as they could crowd in, and there they would have a little
Bible reading and prayer together. The Father only
knows how many souls were strengthened and how many
feet kept from falling because of those brief moments of
worship with these faithful men and women of God.

^' Oh, if you only knew what it means to us ! " one of
the men tried to tell them one day.

Sometimes men who said they hadn't prayed nor read
their Bibles for years would be found in little groups openly
reading a testament to each other.

When the girls opened their shutters in the morning
they could look out over the spot in No Man's Land which
was the scene of such frightful German atrocities in 1914.

Our field artillery, stationed in the woods, sent over to
the Salvation Army to know if they wouldn't come over
and cook something for them, they were starving for some
home cooking. So two of the women put on their steel
helmets and their gas masks, for the Boche planes were
flying everywhere, and went over across No Man's Land to
see if there was a place where they could open up a hut.
They were walking along quietly, talking, and had not
noticed the German plane that approached. They were so

192 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

accustomed to seeing them by twos and threes that a
single one did not attract their attention. Suddenly almost
over their heads the Boche dropped a shell, trying to get
them. But it was a dud and did not explode. Two
American soldiers came tearing over, crying : " Girls ! Are
you hurt ? '^

" Oh, no/^ said one of them brightly. '^ The Lord
wouldn't let that fellow get us.''

The soldiers used strong language as they looked after
the fast-vanishing plane, but then they glanced back at
the women again with something unspoken in their eyes.
They believed, those boys, they really did, that God pro-
tected those women; and they used to beg them to remain
with their regiment when they were going near the front,
because they wanted their prayers as a protection. Some
of the regiments openly said they thought those girls'
prayers had saved their lives.

That Boche plane, however, had not far to go. Before
it reached Baccai-at the Americans trained their guns on it
and brought it down in* flames.

The house occupied by the Salvation Army girls as a
billet had a sad story connected with it. When the Ger-
mans had come the father was soon killed and four German
officers had taken possession of the place for" their Head-
quarters. They also took possession of the two little girls
of the family, nine and fourteen years of age, to wait upon
them. And the first command that was given these chil-
dren was that they should wait upon the men nude ! The
youngest child was not old enough to understand what this
meant, but the older one was in terror, and they begged
and cried and pleaded but all to no purpose. The officer
was inexorable. He told them that if they did not obey
thev would be shot.

THE SALVATION ARMY 193

The poor old grandfather and grandmother, too feeble
to do anything, and powerless, of course, to aid, could
only endure in agony. The grandmother, telling the Sal-
vation Army women the story aiterward, pointed with
trembling fingers and streaming eyes to the two little
graves in the yard and said : " Oh, it would have been so
much better if he had shot them! They lie out there as
the result of their infamous and inhuman treatment/'

Some most amusing incidents came to the knowledge
of the Salvation Army workers.

An old French woman, over eighty years of age, lived
in one of the stricken villages on the Vosges front. Her
home had been several times struck by shells and was
frequently the target for enemy bombing squadrons. All
through the war she refused to leave the home in which she
had lived from earliest childhood.

^^ It is not the guns, nor the bombs which can frighten
me," she told a Salvation Army lassie who was billeted
with her for a time, " but I am very much afraid of the
submarines."

The village was several hundred miles inland.

The activity was all at night, for no one dared be seen
about in the daytime. It must be a very urgent duty that
would call men forth into full view of the enemy. But as
soon as the dark came on the men would crawl into the
trenches, stick their rifles between the sandbags and get
ready for work.

It seemed to be always raining. They said that when
it wasn't actually raining it was either clearing off or
just getting ready to rain again. Twenty minutes in the
trenches and a man was all over mud, wet, cold, slippery
mud. In his hair, down his neck, in his boots, everywhere.
13

194 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

Through the trenches just behind the standing place
ran a deeper trench or drain to carry the water away, and
this wag covered over with a rough board called a duck-
board. Underneath this duck-board ran a continual
stream of water. A man would go along the trench in
a hurry, make a misstep on one end of the duck-board and
down he would go in mud and freezing water to the waist.
In these cold, wet garments he must stay all night. The
tension was very great.

As the soldiers had to work in the night, so the Salva-
tion Army men and women worked in the night to serve
them.

The Salvation Army men would visit the sentries and
bring them coffee and doughnuts prepared in the dugouts
by the girls. It was exceedingly dangerous work. Thej
would crawl through the connecting trenches, which were
not more than three feet deep, and one must stoop to be
safe, and get to the front-line trenches with their cans of
coffee. They would touch a fellow on the shoulder, fill
his mug with coffee, and slip him some doughnuts. At
such times the things were always given, not sold. They
did not dare even to whisper, for the enemy listening posts
were close at hand and the slightest breath might give away
their position. The sermon would be a pat of encourage-
ment on a man's shoulder, then pass on to the next.

One morning at three o'clock a Salvationist carried a
second supply of hot coffee to the battery positions. One
gunner with tense, strained face eyed his full coffee mug
with satisfaction and said with a sigh : ^^ Good ! That is aU
I wanted. I can keep going until morning now ! "

When the men were lined up for a raid there would
be a prayer-meeting in the dugout, thirty inside and as

THE SALVATION ARMY 195

many as could crowded around the door. Just a prayer and
singing. Then the boys would go to the girls and leave
their little trinkets or letters, and say : " I'm going over
the top, Sister. If I don't come back — if I'm kicked off —
you tell mother. You will know what to say to her to help
her bear up."

Three-quarters of an hour later what was left of them
would return and the girls would be ready with hot coffee
and doughnuts. It was heart-breaking, back-aching, won-
derful work, work fit for angels to do, and these girls did
it with all their souls.

" Aren't you tired ? Aren't you afraid ? " asked some-
one of a lassie who had been working hard for forty con-
secutive hours, aiding the doctors in oaring for the
wounded, and in a lull had found time to mix up and
fry a batch of doughnuts in a corner from which the
roof had been completely blown by shells.

" Oh, no ! It's great ! '^ she replied eagerly. " I'm the
luckiest girl in the world.'^

By this time the Salvation Army had acquired many
great three-ton trucks, and the drivers of these risked their
lives daily to carry supplies to the dugouts and huts that
were taking care of the men at the front.

There were signs all over everywhere : " ATTEN-
TION! THE ENEMY SEES YOU!" Trucks were not
allowed to go in daytime except in case of great emergency.
Sometimes in urgent cases day-passes would be given with
the order : " If you have to go, go like the devil ! "

The enemy always had the range on the road where the
trucks had to pass, and especially in exposed places and
on cross-roads a man had no chance if he paused. Once
he had been sighted by the enemy he was done for. A
man deriving on a hasty errand once dropped his crank,

196 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

and stopped his truck to pick it up. Even as lie stooped
to take it. a shell struck his truck and smashed it to bits.

Most of the travelling had to be done at night. Silently,
without a light over roads as dark as pitch, where the only
possible guide was the faint line above where the trees
parted and showed the sky; over rough, muddy roads,
filled with shell-holes, the trucks went nightly. Just fall
in line, keep to the right, and whistle softly when some-
thing got in the way. No claxon horns could be used, for
that was the gas alarm. A man could not even wear a
radiolight watch on his wrist or a driver smoke a cigarette.

One very dark night a truck came through with a
man sitting away out on the radiator watching the road
and telling the driver where to go. The only light would
be from shells exploding or occasional signal lights for
a moment.

To get supplies from where they were to where they were
needed was an urgent necessity which often arose with but
momentary warning — frequently with no warning at all.
The American front was a matter not of miles, but of hun-
dreds of miles, and the call for supplies might come from
■any point along that front. Sometimes the call meant
the immediate shipment of tons of blankets, oranges,
lemons, sugar, flour for doughnuts, lard, chocolate and
other materials, to a point 200 miles distant. At times a
railroad may supply a part of the route, but always there
is a long, dangerous truck haul, and usually the entire
route must be covered by truck.

During the winter there were many thrills added to
the already strenuous task of the Salvation Army truck
drivers. One of them driving late at night in a snow-
storm, mistook a river for the road for which he was
searching, and turned from the real road to the snow-

THE SALVATION ARMY 197

covered surface of the river, which he followed for some
little distance before discovering his mistake. Fortunately,
the ice was solid and the truck unloaded — an unusual
combination.

Another missed the road and drove into a field, where
his wheels bogged down. His fellow-traveller, driving a
Ford, went for help, leaving him with his truck, for if it
had been left unguarded it would have soon been stripped
of every movable part by passing truck drivers. Here he
remained for almost forty-eight hours, during which time
there was considerable shelling.

A Catholic Chaplain told the Salvation Army Staff-
Captain that he thought the reason the Salvation Army
was so popular with his men was because the Salvation
Army kept its promises to the men.

When the Salvation Army officer went to open work in
the town of Baccarat it was so crowded that he was unable
to secure accommodations. He was having dinner in the
cafe, but could get no bread because he had no bread tickets..
The local K. of C. man, observing his difficulty, supplied
tickets, and, finding that he had no place to sleep, offered
to share his own meagre accommodations. For several
nights he shared his bed with him and the Salvation Army
offik^er was greatly assisted by him in many ways. The Sal-
vation Army is popular not alone among the soldiers.

While the offensive was on in Argonne and north of
Verdun, those who were in the huts in the old training
area, which were then used as rest buildings, decided to do
something for the boys, and on one occasion they fried
fourteen thousand doughnuts and took them to the boys
at the front. They traveled in the trucks, and distributed
the doughnuts to the boys as they came from the trenches
and sent others into the trenches.

198 THE WAR ROMANCE

By the time they were through, the day was far spent
and it was necessary for them to find some place to stay
over night. Verdun was the only large city anywhere
near but it had either been largely destroyed or the civil
population had long since abandoned it and there was no
place available.

Underneath the trenches, however, there had been con-
structed in ancient times, underground passages. There
are fifty miles of these underground galleries honeycombed
beneath the city, sufficiently large to shelter the entire
population. There are cross sections of galleries, between
the longer passage ways, and winding stairways here and
there. Air is supplied by a system of pumps. There are
theatres and a church, also. The Army protecting Verdun
had occupied these underground passages.

When the officer commanding the French troops learned
that the Salvation Army girls were obliged to stay over
night, he arranged for their accommodation in the under-
ground passage and here they rested in perfect security with
such comforts as cots and blankets could insure.

It was said that they were the only women ever per-
mitted to remain in these underground passages.

VII.

THE CHATEAU-THIERRY-SOISSONS DRIVE.

When the trouble at Seicheprey broke out the Germans
began shelling Beaumont and Mandres, and things took
on a very serious look for the Salvation Army. Then the
Military Colonel gave an order for the girls to leave Ansau-
ville, and loading them up on a truck he sent them to
Menil-la-Tour. They never allowed girls again in that
town until after the St. Mihiel drive.

That was a wild ride in the night for those girls sitting
in an army truck, jolted over shell holes with the roar of
battle all about them ; the blackness of night on every side,
shells bursting often near them, yet they were as calm as if
nothing were the matter; finally the car got stuck under
range of the enemy's fire, but they never flinched and they
sat quietly in the car in a most dangerous position for
twenty minutes while the Colonel and the Captain were
out locating a dugout. Plucky little girls !

The Salvation Army Staff-Captain of that zone went
back in the morning to Ansauville to get the girls' personal
belongings, and when he entered the canteen he stood still
and looked about him with horror and thankfulness as he
realized the narrow escape those girls had had. The win-
dows and roof were full of shell holes. Shrapnel had pene-
trated everywhere. He went about to examine and took
pieces of shrapnel out of the flour and sugar and coffee
which had gone straight through the tin containers. The
vanilla bottles were broken and there was shrapnel in the
vaniUa, shrapnel was embedded in the wooden tops of the
tables, and in the walls.

He went to the billet where two of the girls had slept.

199

200 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

Opposite their bed on the other side of the room was a
window and over the bed was a large picture. A shell had
passed through the window and smashed the picture, shat-
tering the glass in fragments all over the bed. Another
shell had entered the window, passed over the pillows of the
bed and gone out through the wall by the bed. It would
have gone through the temples of any sleeper in that bed.
After this they kept men in Ansauville instead of girls.

The next day the girls opened up the canteen at Menil-
la-Tour as calmly as if nothing had happened the day
before.

The boys were going down to !N'evillers to rest, and
while they rested the girls cooked good things for them
and used that sweet God-given influence that makes a little
piece of home and heaven wherever it is found.

The girls did not get much rest, but then they had not
come to France to rest, as they often told people who were
always urging them to save themselves. They did get one
bit of luxury in the shape of passes down to Beauvais.
There it was possible to get a bath and the girls had not
been able to have that from the first of April to the first of
July. They had to stand in line with the officers, it is true,
to take their turn at the public bath houses, but it was a
real delight to have plenty of water for once, for their
appointments at the front had been most restricted and
water a scarce commodity. Sometimes it had been diffi-
cult to get enough water for the cooking and the girls had
been obliged to use cold cream to wash their faces for sev-
eral days at a time. Of course, it was an impossibility
for them to do any laundry work for themselves, as there
was neither time nor place nor facilities. Their laundry
was always carried by courier to some near-by city and
brought back to them in a few days.

THE SALVATION ARMY 201

The Zone Major had supper with the Colonel, who told
him that none of the organizations would be allowed on the
drive. The Zone Major asked if they might be allowed to
go as far as Crepy. The Colonel much excited said : " Man,
don't you know that town is being shelled every night ? '^
The next morning a party of sixteen Salvation Army men
and women started out in the truck for Crepy. It was a
beautiful day and they rode all day long. At nightfall
they reached the village of Crepy where they were wel-
comed eagerly. The Zone Major had to leave and go back
and wanted them all to stay there, but they were unwiUing
to do so because their own outfit was going over the top
that night and they wanted to be with them before they left.
They started from Crepy about five o'clock and got lost in
the woods, but finally, after wandering about for some hours,
landed in Eoy St. Nicholas where was the outfit to which
one of the girls belonged.

The Salvation Army boys had just pulled in with another
truck and were getting ready for the night, for they always
slept in their trucks. The girls decided to sit down in the
road until the billeting officer arrived, but time passed and
no billeting officer came. They were growing very weary, so
they got into the Colonel's car, which stood at the roadside,
and went to sleep. A little later the billeting officer appeared
with many apologies and offered to take them to the billet
that had been set aside for them. They took their rolls
of blankets, and climbed sleepily out of the car, following
him two blocks down the street to an old building. But
when they reached there they found that some French
officers had taken possession and were fast asleep, so they
went back to the car and slept till morning. At daylight
they went down to a brook to wash but found that the
soldiers were there ahead of them, and they had to go

202 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

back and be content with freshening up with cold cream.
Thus did these lassies, accustomed to daintiness in their
daily lives, accommodate themselves to the necessities of
war, as easily and cheerfully as the soldier boys themselves.

That day the rest of the outfits arrived, and they all
pulled into Morte Fontaine.

Morte Fontaine was well named because there was no
water in the town fit to use.

The girls felt they were needed nearer the front, so
they went to Major Peabody and asked permission.

'^ I should say not ! ^' he replied vigorously with yet a
twinkle of admiration for the brave lassies. ^^ But you can
take anything you want in this town.^'

So the girls went out and found an old building. It
was very dirty but they went cheerfully to work, cleaned
it up, and started their canteen.

There was a hospital in the town; they knew that by
the many ambulances that were continually going back and
forth; so they offered their services to the doctors, which
were eagerly accepted. After that they took turns staying
in the canteen and going to the hospital.

The hospital was fearfully crowded, though it was in
no measure the fault of the hospital authorities, for they
were doing their best, working with all their might ; but it
had not been expected that there would be so many wounded
at this point and they had not adequate accommodations.
Many of the wounded boys were lying on the ground in
the sun, covered with blood and flies, and parched with
thirst and fever. There were not enough ambulances to
carry them further back to the base hospitals.

The girls stretched pieces of canvas over the heads of the
poor boys to keep off the sun; they got water and washed
away the blood; and they sent one of their indefatigable

THE SALVATION ARMY 203

truck drivers after some water to make lemonade. The
little Adjutant twinkled his nice brown eyes and set his
firm merry lips when they told him to get the water, in that
place of no water, but he took his little Ford car and
whirled away without a word, and presently he returned
with a barrel of ice-cold water from a spring he had found
two miles away. How the girls rejoiced that it was ice
cold! And then they started making lemonade. They
had known that the Adjutant would find water somewhere.
He was the man the doughboys called ^^ one game little
guy/' because he was so fearless in going into No Man's
Land after the wounded, so indef atigible in accomplishing
his purpose against all odds, so forgetful of self.

They had but one crate of lemons, one crate of oranges
and one bag of sugar when they began making lemonade,
but before they needed more it arrived just on the minute.
It was almost like a miracle. For a whole car load of
oranges and lemons had been shipped to Beauvais and
arrived a day too late — after the troops had gone. They
were of no use there, so the Zone Major had them shipped
at once to the railhead at Crepy, and got a special permit
to go over with trucks and take them up to Morte Fontaine.

The Salvation Army never does things by halves. Col-
onel Barker sent to Paris to get some mosquito netting to
keep the fiies off those soldiers, and failing to find any in
the whole city he bought $10,000 worth of white net, such
as is used for ladies' collars and dresses — ^ten thousand
yards at a dollar a yard — and sent it down to the hospital
where it was used over the wounded men, sometimes over
a wounded arm or leg or head, sometimes over a whole man,
sometimes stretched as netting in the windows. And no ten
thousand dollars was ever better spent, for the flies occas-
ioned indescribable suffering as well as the peril of infection.

204 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

Wonderful relief and comfort all these things brought
to those poor boys lying there in agony and fever. How
delicious were the cooling drinks to their parched lips!
The doctors afterward said that it was the cool drinks those
girls gave to the men that saved many a life that day.

There were some poor fellows hurt in the abdomen
who were not allowed to drink even a drop and who begged
for it so piteously. For these the girls did all in their
power. They bathed their faces and hands and dipping
gauze in lemonade they moistened their lips with it.

The other day, after the war was over and a ship came
sailing into New York harbor, one of these same fellows
standing on the deck looked down at the wharf and saw
one of these same girls standing there to welcome him. As
soon as he was free to leave the ship he rushed down to
find her, and gripping her hand eagerly he cried out so all
around could hear : " You saved my life that day. Oh, but
Fm glad to see you! The doctor said it was that cold
lemonade you gave me that kept me from dying of fever ! '^

In one base hospital lay a boy wounded at Chateau-
Thierry. Of course, when wounded, he lost all his pos-
sessions, including a Testament which he very much treas-
ured. The Salvation Army supplied him with another, but
it did not comfort him as the old one had done. He said
that it could never be the same as the one he had carried
for so long. He worried so much about his Testament, that
one of the lassies finally attempted to recover it, and, after
much trouble, succeeded through the Bureau of Effects.
The little book, which the soldier had always carried with
him, was blood-soaked and mud-stained; but it was an
unmistakable aid in the lad's recovery.

But the honor of those days in Morte Fontaine was not
all due to the Salvation Army lassies. The Salvation Army
truck drivers were real heroes. They came with their

THE SALVATION ARMY 205

ambulances and their trucks and they carried the poor
wounded fellows back to the base hospitals. The hospitals
were full everywhere near there, and sometimes they would
go from one to another and have to drive miles, and even
go from one town to another to find a place where there was
room to receive the men they carried. Then back they
would come for another load. They worked thus for three
days and five nights steadily, before they slept, and some of
them stripped to the waist and bared their breasts to the
sharp night wind so that the cold air would keep them
awake to the task of driving their cars through the black
night with its precious load of human lives. They had no
opportunity for rest of any kind, no chance to shave or
wash or sleep, and they were a haggard and worn looking
set of men when it was over.

Wliile all this was going on the Zone Major kept out of
sight of the Colonel who had told him he couldn't go out
on that drive; but two days later he saw his familiar car
coming down the road and the Colonel seemed greatly agi-
tated. He was shaking his fist in front of him.

The Zone Major pondered whether he would not better
drive right on without stopping to talk, but he reflected that
he would have to take his punishment some time and he
might as well get it over with, so when the Colonel's car
drew near he stopped. The Colonel got out and the Zone
Major got out, and it was apparent that the Colonel was
very angry. He forgot entirely that the Zone Major was a
Salvationist and he swore roundly : " I'm out with you
for life," declared the Colonel angrily. "The General's
upset and I'm upset."

"Why, what's the matter, Colonel?" asked the Zone
Major innocently.

" Matter enough ! You had no business to bring those
girls up here ! "

206 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

The Colonel said more to the same effect, and then got
into his car and drove off. The Zone Major wisely kept out
of his way; but a few days later met him again and this
time the Colonel was smiling :

" Dog-gone you, Major, where' ve you been keeping
yourself ? Why haven't you been around ? " and he put
out his hand affably.

" Why, I didn't want to see a man who bawled me out in
the public highway that way," said the Zone Major.

'' Well, Major, you had no business to bring those girls
up here and you know it ! " said the Colonel rousing to the
old subject again.

' Why not. Colonel, didn't they do fine? "

" Yes, they did," said the Colonel with tears springing
suddenly into his eyes and a huskiness into his voice, " but,
Major, think what if we'd lost one of them ! "

" Colonel," said the Zone Major gently, ^^ my girls are
soldiers. They come up here to share the dangers with the
soldiers, and as long as they can be of service they feel this
is the place for them."

The Colonel struggled with his emotion for a moment
and then said gruffly : ^^ Had anything to eat ? Stop and
take a bite with me." And they sat down under the trees
and had supper together.

It was at this town that the girls slept in a Cerman-dug
cave, in which our boys had captured seven hundred Ger-
mans, the commanding officer of whom said that according
to his rank in Germany he ought to have a car to take him
to the rear. However, he was compelled to leg it at the
point of an American bayonet in the hands of an American
doughboy. The cave was of chalk rock made to store casks
of wine.

The airplanes were bad in this place. One speaks of
airplanes in such a connection in the same way one used to

THE SALVATION ARMY 207

mention mosquitoes at certain Jersey seashore resorts. But
they were particularly bad at Morte Fontaine, and Major
Peabody ordered the canteen to be moved out of the village
to the cave. More Salvation Army girls came to look after
the canteen leaving the first girls free for longer hours at
the hospital.

One beautiful moonlight night the girls had just started
out from the hospital to go to their cave when they heard a
German airplane, the irregular chug, chug of its engine
distinguishing it unmistakably from the smooth whirr of
the Allies' planes. The girls looked up and almost over
their heads was an enemy plane, so low that they could see
the insignia on his machine, and see the man in the car.
He seemed to be looking down at them. In sudden panic
they fled to a nearby tree and hid close under its branches.
Standing there they saw the enemy make a low dip over
the hospital tents, drop a bomb in the kitchen end just
where they had been working five minutes before, and
slide up again through the silvery air, curve away and dive
down once more.

The scene was bright as day for the moon was full and
very clear that night, and the roads stretched out in every
direction like white ribbons. One block away the girls
could see a regiment of Scotch soldiers, the famous High-
land Regiment called " The Ladies From HelV marching
up to the front that night, and singing bravely as they
marched, their skirling Scotch songs accompanied by a
bagpipe. And even as they listened with bated breath and
straining eyes the airplane dipped and dropped another
bomb right into the midst of the brave men, killing thirty
of them, and slid up and away before it could be stopped.
These were the scenes to which they grew daily accustomed
as they plied their angel mission, and daily saw themselvee
preserved as by a miracle from constant peril.

208 THE WAE ROMANCE OF

We had about eight or ten German prisoners here, who
were employed as litter bearers, and very good workers they
were, tickled to death to be there instead of over on their
own side fighting. Most of the prisoners, except some of the
German officers, seemed glad to be taken.

These German prisoners were sitting in a row on the
ground outside the hospital one day when the Salvation
Army girls and men were picking over a crate of oranges.
The Germans sat watching them with longing eyes.

" Let's give them each one," proposed one of the girls.

" No ! Give them a punch in the nose ! " said the boys.

The girls said nothing more and went on working. Pres-
ently they stepped away for a few minutes and when they
came back the Germans sat there contentedly eating
oranges. Questioningly the girls looked at their male co-
workers and with lifted brows asked : " What does this
mean ? ^'

'' Aw, well ! The poor sneaks looked so longingly ! " said
one of the boys, grinning sheepishly.

There in the hospital the girls came into contact with
the splendid spirit of the American soldier boys. " Don't
help me, help that fellow over there who is suffering ! '' was
heard over and over again when they went to bring com-
fort to some wounded boy.

When the supplies in the canteen would run out, and
the last doughnut would be handed with the words : " That's
the last," the boy to whom it was given would say : " Don't
give it to me, give it to Harry. I don't want it."

It was during that drive and there was a farewell meet-
ing at one of the Salvation Army huts that night for the
boys who were going up to the trenches. It was a beautiful
and touching meeting as always on such occasions. Start-
ing with singing whatever the boys picked out, it dropped
quickly into the old hymns that the boya loved and thea

THE SALVATION ARMY 209

to a simple earnest prayer, setting forth the desperate case
of those who were going out to fight, and appealing to the
everlasting Saviour for forgiveness and refuge. They lin-
gered long about the fair young girl who was leading them,
listening to her earnest, plain words of instruction how to
turn to the Saviour of the world in their need, how to repent
of their sins and take Christ for their Saviour and Sancti-
fier. No man who was in that meeting would dare plead
ignorance of the way to be saved. Many signified their
desire to give their lives into the keeping of Christ before
they went to the front. The meeting broke up reluctantly
and the men drifted out and away, expecting soon to be
called to go. But something happened that they did not
go that night. Meantime, a company had just returned
from the front, weary, hungry, worn and bleeding, with
their nerves unstrung, and their spirits desperate from the
tumult and horror of the hours they had just passed in
battle. They needed cheering and soothing back to nor-
mal. The girls were preparing to do this with a bright,
cheery entertainment, when a deputation of boys from the
night before returned. There was a wistful gleam in the
eyes of the young Jew who was spokesman for the group
as he approached the lassie who had led the meeting.

" Say, Cap, you see we didn^t go up.^'

" I see," she smiled happily.

" Say, Cap, won't you have another farewell meeting
to-night ? '' he asked with an appealing glance in his
dark eyes.

^' Son, we've arranged something else just now for the
fellows who are coming back," she said gently, for she
hated to refuse such a request.

^^Oh, say, Cap, you can have that later, can't you?
We want another meeting now."

There was something so pleading in his voice and
14'

210 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

eyes, so hungry in the look of the waiting group, that the
young Captain could not deny him. She looked at him
hesitatingly, and then said:

" All right. Go out and tell the boys."

He hurried out and soon the compajiy came crowding
in. That hour the very Lord came dovm and com-
muned with them as: they sang and knelt to pray, and
not a heart but was melted and tender as they went out
when it was over in the solemn darkness of the early morn-
ing. A little later the order came and they " went over."

It was a sharp, fierce fight, and the young Jew was
mortally wounded. Some comrades found him as he lay
white and helpless on the ground, and bending over saw
that he had not long to stay. They tried to lift him and
bear him back, but he would not let them. He knew it
was useless.

They asked him if he had any message. He nodded.
Yes, he wanted to send a message to the Salvation Army
girls. It was this :

"Tell the girls I've gone West; for I will be by the
time you tell them; and tell them it's all right for at that
second meeting I accepted Christ and I die resting on the
same Saviour that is theirs.'^

One of our wonderful boys out on the drive had his
hand blowii off and didn't realize it. His chum tried to
drag him back and told him his hand was gone.

" That's nothing ! " he cried. " Tie it up ! '^

But they forced him back lest he would bleed to death.
In the hospital they told him that now he might go home.

" Go home ! '^ he cried. ^^ Go home for the loss of a
left hand! I'm not left-handed. Maybe I can't carry a
gun, but I can throw hand grenades ! ''

He went to the Major and the Major said also that he
must go home.

THE SALVATION ARMY 211

The boy looked him straight in the eye :

" Excuse me, Major, saying I won't. But I won't let
go your coat till you say I can stay," and finally the Major
had to give in and let him stay. He could not resist such
pleading.

One poor fellow, wounded in his abdomen, was lying
on a litter in a most uncomfortable position suffering awful
pain. The lassie came near and asked if she could do any-^
thing for him. He told her he wanted to lie on his stom-
ach, but the doctor, when she asked him, said *' ISTo " very
shortly and told her he must lie on his back. She stooped
and turned him so that his position was more comfortable,
put his gas mask under his head, rolled his blanket so as
to support his shoulders better, and turned to go to another,
and the poor suffering lad opened his eyes, held out his
hand and smiled as she went away.

The doctors said to the girls : " It is wonderful to have
you around."

The Red Cross men and their rolling kitchens came to
the front, but no women. Somehow in pain and sickness
no hand can sooth like a woman's. Perhaps God meant
it to be so. Here at Morte Fontaine was the first time a
woman had ever worked in a field hospital.

The Salvation Army women worked all that drive.

It was a sad time, though, for the division went in to
stay until they lost forty-five hundred men, but it stayed
two days after reaching that figure and lost about seventy-
five thousand.

The doctor in charge of the evacuation hospital at
Crepy spoke of the effect of the Salvation Army girls, not
alone upon the wounded, but also upon the medical-surgical
staff and the men of the hospital corps who acted as nurses
in that advanced position. "Before they came," he said,

212 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

"we were overwrought, everyone seemed at the breaking
point, what with the nervous tension and danger. But the
very sight of women working calmly had a soothing effect
on everyone/^

When the drive was over orders came to leave. The
following is the official notice to the Salvation Army
officers :

G-1 Headquarters, 1st Division,

American Expeditionary Forces,

July 26, 1918.
Memorandum.

To Directors, Y. M. C. A., Eed Cross, Salvation
Army Services, 1st Division.

1. This division moves by rail to destination unknown
beginning at 6.00 a.m.^ July 28th. Motor organizations of
the Division move overland. Your motorized units will
accompany the advanced section of the Division Supply
Train, and will form a part of that train.

2. Time of departure and routes to be taken will be
announced later.

3. Secretaries attached to units may accompany units,
if it is so desired.

By command of Major- General Summerall.
P. E. Peabody,
Captain, Infantry,
Copies : G-1

YMCA
Eed Cross
Salvation Army
G-3

C. of S.
File

THE SALVATION AKMY 213

The girls stowed themselves and their belongings into
the big truck. Just as they were about to start they saw
some infantry coming, seven men whom they knew, but in
such a plight! They were unshaven, with white, sunken
faces, and great dark hollows under their eyes. They were
simply ^' all in,^^ and could hardly walk.

Without an instant's hesitation the girls made a place
for those poor, tired, dirty men in the truck, and the invita-
tion was gratefully accepted.

There were more poor forlorn fellows coming along
the road. They kept meeting them every little way, but
they had no room to take in any more so they piled
orajiges in the back end of the truck and gave them to all
the boys they passed who were walking.

Now the girls were on their way to Senlis, where they
had planned to take dinner at a hotel in which they had
dined before. It was one of the few buildings remaining
in the town for the Germans, when they left Senlis, had set
it on fire and destroyed nearly everything. But as the girls
neared the town they began to think about the boys asleep
in the back of the truck, who probably hadn't had a square
meal for a week, and they decided to take them with them.
So they woke them up when they arrived at the hotel. Oh,
but those seven dirty, unshaven soldiers were embarrassed
with the invitation to dinner ! At first they declined, but
the girls insisted, and they found a place to wash and tidy
up themselves a bit. In a few minutes into the big dining-
room filled with French soldiers and a goodly sprinkling
of French officers, marched those two girls, followed by
their seven big unshaven soldiers with their white faces
and hollow eyes, sat proudly down at a table in the very
centre and ordered a big dinner. That is the kind of
girls Salvation Army lassies are. Never ashamed to do a
big right thing.

214 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

After the dinner they took the boys to their divisional
headquarters, where they found their outfit.

They went on their way from Senlis to Dam-Martin
to stay for a week back of the lines for rest.

There was a big French cantonment building here built
for moving pictures, which was given to them for a can-
teen, and they set up their stove and went to work making
doughnuts, and doing all the helpful things they could
find to do for the boys who were soon to go to the front
again.

Then orders came to move back to the Toul Sector.

Those were wonderful moonlight nights at Saizerais,
but the Boche airplanes nearly pestered the life out of
everybody.

" Gee ! " said one of the boys, '^ if anybody ever says
^ beautiful moonlight nights ^ to me when I get home I
don't know what I'll do to 'em ! "

The boys were at the front, but not fighting as yet.
Occasional shells would burst about their hut here and
there, but the girls were not much bothered by them. The
thing that bothered them most was an old ^^Vin" shop
across the street that served its wine on little tables set
out in front on the sidewalk. They could not help seeing
that many of the boys were beginning to drink. Poor souls !
The water was bad and scarce, sometimes poisoned, and
their hearts were sick for something, and this was all that
presented itself. It was not much wonder. But when the
girls discovered the state of things they sent off three or
four boys with a twenty-gallon tank to scout for some water.
They found it after much search and filled the big tank full
of delicious lemonade, telling the boys to help themselves.

All the time they were in that town, which was some-

THE SALVATION ARMY 215

thing like a week, the girls kept that tank full of lemon-
ade close by the door. They must have made seventy-five
or a hundred gallons of lemonade every day, and they had
to squeeze all the lemons by hand, too ! They told the boys :
" When you feel thirsty just come here and get lemonade
as often as you want it ! '^ No wonder they almost worship
those girls. And they had the pleasure of seeing the trade
of the little wine shop decidedly decrease.

However near the front you may go you will always
find what is known over there in common parlance as a
" hole in the wall " where " vin blanche " and " vin rouge ''
and all kinds of light wines can be had. And, of course,
many soldiers would drink it. The Salvation Army tried
to supply a great need by having carloads of lemons sent to
the front and making and distributing lemonade freely.

One cannot realize the extent of this proposition with-
out counting up all the lemons and sugar that would be
required, and remembering that supplies were obtained
only by keeping in constant touch -with the Headquarters
of that zone and always sending word immediately when
any need was discovered. There is nothiner slow about
the Salvation Army and they are not troubled with too
miuch red tape. If necessity presents itself they will even
on occasion cut what they have to help someone.

The airplanes visited them every night that week, and
sometimes they did not think it worth while to go to bed at
all; they had to run to the safety trenches so often. It was
just a little bit of a village with dugouts out on the edge.

One night they had gone to bed and a terrific explosion
occurred which rocked the little house where they were.
They thought of course the bomb had fallen in the vil-
lage, but they found it was quite outside. It had made

216 THE WAR ROMANCE

such a big hole in the ground that you could put a whole
truck into it.

The trenches in which they hid were covered over with
boards and sand, and were not bomb proof, but they were
proof against pieces of shell and shrapnel.

It was a very busy time for the girls because so many
different outfits were passing and repassing that they had
to work from morning early till late at night.

At Bullionville the hut was in a building that bore the
marks of much shelling. The American boys promptly
dubbed the place " Souptown.^'

The Division moved to Vaucouleurs for rest and re-
placements. At Vaucouleurs there was a great big hut with
a pianOj a victrola, and a cookstove.

They started the canteen, made doughnuts and pies,
and gave entertainments.

But best of all, there were wonderful meetings and
numbers of conversions, often twenty and twenty-five at a
time giving themselves to Christ. The boys would get up
and testify of their changed feelings and of what Christ
now meant to them, and the others respected them the
more for it.

They stayed here two weeks and everybody knew they
were getting ready for a big drive. It was a solemn time
for the boys and they seemed to draw nearer to the Salva-
tion Army people and long to get the secret of their brave,
unselfish lives, and that light in their eyes that defied
danger and death. In the distance you could hear the
artillery, and the night before they left, all night long,
there was the tramp, tramp, tramp of feet, the boys
" going up.^'

The next day the girls followed in a truck, stopping a
few days at Pagny-sur-Meuse for rest.

VIII.

THE SAINT MIHIEL DKIVE.

The hut in Eaulecourt was an old French barracks.
Outside in the yard was an old French anti-aircraft gun
and a mesh of barbed wire entanglement. The woods all
around was filled with our guns. To the left was the
enemy's third line trench. Three-quarters of the time the
Boche were trying to clean us up. Less than two miles
ahead were our own front line trenches.

The field range was outside in the back yard.

One hot day in July a Salvation Army woman stood
at the range frying doughnuts from eleven in the morning
until six at night without resting, and scarcely stopping
for a bite to eat. She fried seventeen hundred doughnuts,
and was away from the stove only twice for a few minutes.
She claims, however, that she is not the champion doughnut
fryer. The champion fried twenty-three hundred in a day.

One day a soldier watching her tired face as she stood
at the range lifting out doughnuts and plopping more un-
cooked ones into the fat, protested.

" Say, you're awfully tired turning over doughnuts.
Let me help you. You go inside and rest a while. Fm
sure I can do that.''

She was tired and the boy looked eager, so she decided
to accept his offer. He was very insistent that she go away
and rest, so she slipped in behind a screen to lie down, but
peeped out to watch how he was getting on. She saw him
turn over the first doughnuts all right and drain them,
but he almost burned his fingers trying to eat one before it
was fairly out of the fat ; and then she understood why he
had been so anxious for her to " go away " and rest.

Often the boys would come to the lassies and say : " Say,

217

218 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

Cap, I can help you. Loan me an apron." And soon they
would be all flour from their chin to their toes.

They would come about four o^clock to find out what
time the doughnuts would be ready for serving, and the
girls usually said six o'clock so that they would be able to
fry enough to supply all the regiment. But the men would
start to line up at half -past four, knowing that they could
not be served until six, so eager were they for these deli-
cacies. When six o'clock came each man would get three
doughnuts and a cup of delicious coffee or chocolate. A
great many doughnut cutters were worn out as the days
went by and the boys frequently had to get a new cutter
made. Sometimes they would take the top of quite a large-
sized can or anything tin that they could lay hands on from
which to make it. One boy found the top of an extra large
sized baking powder tin and took it to have a smaller cutter
soldered in the centre. Sometimes they used the top of the
shaving soap box for this. When he got back to the hut the
cook exclaimed in dismay : " Why, but it's too big ! "

^^ Oh, that's all right," said the doughboy nonchalantly.
" That'll be all the better for us. We'll get more dough-
nut. You always give us three anyway, you know. The
size don't count."

They were always scheming to get more pie and more
doughnuts and would stand in Kne for hours for a second
helping. One day the Salvation Army woman grew indig-
nant over a noticeably red-headed boy who had had three
helpings and was lining up for a fourth. She stood majes-
tically at the head of the line and pointed straight at him :
" You ! With the red head down there ! Get out of the
line!"

^' She's got my number all right ! " said the red-headed
one, grinning sheepishly as he dropped back.

The town of Eaulecourt was often shelled, but one

THE SALVATION ARMY 219

morning just before daybreak the enemy started in to shell
it in earnest. Word came that the girls had better leave
as it was very dangerous to remain, but the girls thought
otherwise and refused to leave. One might have thought
they considered that they were real soldiers, and the fate
of the day depended upon them. And perhaps more de-
pended upon them than they knew. However that was they
stayed, having been through such experiences before. For
the older woman, however, it was a first experience. She
took it calmly enough, going about her business as if she,
too, were an old soldier.

On the evening of June 14th they made fudge for the
boys who were going to leave that night for the front lines.

For several hours the tables in the hut were filled with
men writing letters to loved ones at home, and the women
and girls had sheets of paper filled with addresses to which
they had promised to write if the boys did not come back.

At last one of the men got up with his finished letter
and quietly removed the phonograph and a few of its dev-
otees who were not going up to the front yet, placing them
outside at a safe distance from the hut. A soldier fol-
lowed, carrying an armful of records, and the hut was
cleared for the men who were " going in '' that night.

For a little while they ate fudge and then they sang
hymns for another half hour, and had a prayer. It was a
very quiet little meeting. Not much said. Everyone knew
how solemn the occasion was. Everyone felt it might be
his last among them. It was as if the brooding Christ had
made Himself felt in every heart. Each boy felt like cry-
ing out for some strong arm to lean upon in this his sore
need. Each gave himself with all his heart to the quiet
reaching up to God. It was as if the eating of that fudge
had been a solemn sacrament in which their souls were
^Drought near to God and to the dear ones they might never

220 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

see on this earth again. If any one had come to them then
and suggested the Philosophy of Nietzsche it would have
found little favor. They knew, here, in the face of death,
that the Death of Jesus on the Cross was a soul satisfy-
ing creed. Those who had accepted Him were suddenly
taken within the veil where they saw no longer through a
glass darkly, but with a face-to-face sense of His presence.
They had dropped away their self assurance with which
they had either conquered or ignored everything so far in
life, and had become as little children, ready to trust in the
Everlasting Father, without whom they had suddenly dis-
covered they could not tread the ways of Death.

Then came the call to march, and with a last prayer the
boys filed silently out into the night and fell into line. A
few minutes later the steady tramp of their feet could be
heard as they went down the street that led to the front.

Later in the night, quite near to morning, there came
a terrific shock of artillery fire that heralded a German
raid. The fragile army cots rocked like cradles in the hut,
dishes rolled and danced on the shelves and tables, and
were dashed to fragments on the floor. Shells wailed and
screamed overhead; and our guns began, until it seemed
that all the sounds of the universe had broken forth. In
the midst of it aU the gas alarm sounded, the great electric
horns screeching wildly above the babel of sound. The
women hurried into their gas masks, a bit flustered per-
haps, but bearing their excitement quietly and helping each
other until all were safely breathing behind their masks.

The next day several times officers came to the hut and
begged the women to leave and go to a place of greater
safety, but they decided not to go unless they were ordered
away. On June 19th one of them wrote in her diary:
" Shells are still flying aU about us, but our work is here

THE SALVATION ARMY 221

and we must stay. God will protect us.'^ Once when
things grew quiet for a little while she went to the edge of
the village and watched the shells falling on Boucq, where
one of her friends was stationed, and declared : " It looks
awfully bad, almost as bad as it sounds."

The next morning as the firing gradually died away,
Salvation Army people hurried up to Eaulecourt from
near-by huts to find out how these brave women were, and
rejoiced unspeakably that every one was safe and weU.

That night there was another wonderful meeting with
the boys who were going to the front, and after it the
weary workers slept soundly the whole night through,
quietly and undisturbed, the first time for a week.

It was a bright, beautiful Sunday morning, June 23,
1918, when a little party of Salvationists from Eaulecourt
started down into the trenches. The muddy, dirty, un-
pleasant trenches ! Sometimes with their two feet firmly
planted on the duck-board, sometimes in the mud ! Such
mud ! If you got both feet on it at once you were sure
you were planted and would soon begin to grow !

As soon as they reached the trenches they were told:
" Keep your heads down, ladies, the snipers are all around !"
It was an intense moment as they crept into the narrow
housings where the men had to spend so much time. But
it was wonderful to watch the glad light that came into the
men's eyes as they saw the women.

"Here's a real, honest-to-goodness American woman
in the trenches ! ^^ exclaimed a homesick lad as they came
around a turn.

*'Yes, your mother couldn't come to-day," said the
motherly Salvationist, smiling a greeting, " so I've come
in her place."

'' All right ! " said he, entering into the game. " This
is Broadway and that's Forty-second Street. Sit down."

222 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

Of course there was nothing to sit down on in the
trenches. But he hunted about till he found a chow can
and turned it up for a seat, and they had a pleasant talk.

'^ Just wait/' he said. " I'll show you a picture of the
dearest little girl a fellow ever married and the darlingest
little kid ever a man was father to ! '' He fumbled in his
breast pocket right over his heart and brought out two
photographs.

"I'd give my right arm to see them this minute, but
for all that," he went on, "I wouldn't leave till we've
fought this thing through to Berlin and given them a dose
of what they gave little Belgium ! "

They went up and down the trenches, pausing at the
entrances to dugouts to smile and talk with the men.
Once, where a grassy ridge hid the trench from the enemy
snipers, they were permitted to peep over, but there was no
look of war in the grassy, placid meadow full of flowers
that men called " jSTo Man's Land." It seem^ed hard to
believe, that sunny, flower-starred morning, that Sin and
Hate had the upper hand and Death was abroad stalking
near in the sunlight.

It was a twelve-mile walk through the trenches and back
to the hut, and when they returned they found the men
were already gathering for the evening meeting.

That night, at the close of a heart-searching talk,
eighty-five men arose to their feet in token that they would
turn from the ways of sin and accept Christ as their
Saviour, and many more raised their hands for prayers.
One of the women of this party in her three months in
France saw more than five hundred men give themselves
to Christ and promise to serve Him the rest of their lives.

A little Adjutant lassie who was stationed at Boucq
v,^ent away from the town for a few hours on Saturday,

THE SALVATION ARMY 223

and -when she returned the next day she found the whole
place deserted. A big barrage had been put over in the
little, quiet village while she was away and the entire in-
habitants had taken refuge in the General's dugout. Her
husband, who had brought her back, insisted that she should
return to the Zone Headquarters at Ligny-en-Barrios, where
he was in charge, and persuaded her to start with him, but
when they reached Menil-la-Tour and found that the divi-
sion Chaplain was returning to Boucq she persuaded her
husband that she mu^t return with the Chaplain to her
post of duty.

That night she and the other girls slept outside the
dugout in little tents to leave more room in the dugout
for the French women with their little babies. At half-
past three in the morning the Germans started their shell-
ing once more. After two hours, things quieted down
somewhat and the girls went to the hut and prepared a
large um of coffee and two big batches of hot biscuits.
While they were in the midst of breakfast there was an-
other barrage. All day they were thus moving backward
and forward between the hut and the dugout, not knowing
when another barrage would, arrive. The Germans were
continually trying to get the chateau where the General
had his headquarters. One shell struck a house where
seven boys were quartered, wounding them all and killing
one of them. Things got so bad that the Divisional Head-
quarters had to leave ; the General sent his car and trans-
ferred the girls with all their things to Trondes. This was
back of a hill near Boucq. They arrived at three in
the afternoon, put up their stove and began to bake. By
five they were serving cake they had baked. The boys ©aid :
" What ! Cake already ? '' The soldiers put up the hut and
had it finished in six hours.

While all this was going on the Salvation Army friends

224 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

over at Raulecourt had been watching the shells falling on
Boucq, and been much troubled about them.

These were stirring times. No one had leisure to won-
der what had become of his brother, for all were working
with all their might to the one great end.

Up north of Beaumont two aviators were caught by the
enemy's lire and forced to land close to the enemy nests.
Instead of surrendering the Americans used the guns on
their planes and held off the Germans until darkness fell,
when they managed to escape and reach the American lines.
This was only one of many individual feats of heroism that
helped to turn the tide of battle. The courage and deter-
mination, one might say the enthusiasm, of the Americans
knew no bounds. It awed and overpowered the enemy by
its very eagerness. The Americans were having all they
could do to keep up with the enemy. The artillerymen
captured great numbers of enemy cannon, ammunition,
food and other supplies, which the trucks gathered up and
carried far to the front, where they were ready for the
doughboys when they arrived. One of the greatest feats
of engineering ever accomplished by the American Army
was the bridging of the Meuse, in the region of Stenay, un-
der terrible shell fire, using in the work of building the
pontoons the Boche boats and materials captured during
the fighting at Chateau-Thierry and which had been
brought from Germany for the Kaiser's Paris offensive in
July. The Meuse had been flooded until it was a mile
wide, yet there was more than enough material to bridge it.

As the Americans advanced, village after village was
set free which had been robbed and pillaged by the Ger-
mans while under their domination. The Yankee trucks
as they returned brought the women and children back
from out of the range of shell fire, and they were filled with
wonder as they heard the strange language on the tongues

THE SALVATION ARMY 225

of their rescuers. They knew it was not the German, but
they had many of them never seen an American before.
The Germans had told them that Americans were wild
and barbarous people. Yet these men gathered the little
hungry children into their arms and shared their rations
with them. There were three dirty, hungry little children,
all under ten years of age, Yvonne, Louisette and Jeane,
whose father was a sailor stationed at Marseilles. Yvonne
was only four years of age, and she told the soldiers she
had never seen her father. They climbed into the big
truck and sat looking with wonder at the kindly men who
filled their hands with food and asked them many ques-
tions. By and by, they comprehended that these big, smil-
ing, cheerful men were going te take the whole family to
their father. What wonder, what joy shone in their
eager young eyes !

Strange and sad and wonderful sights there were to
see as the soldiers went forward.

A pioneer unit was rushed ahead with orders to con-
duct its own campaign and choose its own front, only so
that contact was established with the enemy, and to this
unit was attached a certain little group of Salvation
Army people. Three lassies, doing their best to keep pace
with their own people, reached a battered little town about
four o'clock in the morning, after a hard, exciting ride.

The supply train had already put up the tent for them,
and they were ordered to unfold their cots and get to sleep
as soon as possible. But instead of obeying orders these
indomitable girls set to work making doughnuts and be-
fore nine o'clock in the morning they had made and were
serving two thousand doughnuts, with the accompanying
hot chocolate.

The shells were whistling overhead, and the doughboys

15

226 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

dropped into nearby shell holes when they heard them com-
ing, but the lassies paid no heed and made doughnuts all the
morning, under constant bombardment.

Bouconville was a little village between Eaulecourt and
the trenches. In it there was left no civilian nor any whole
house. Nothing but shot-down houses, dugouts and camou-
flages, Y. M. C. A., Salvation Army and enlisted men.

Dead Man's Curve was between Mandres and Beau-
mont. The enemy's eye was always upon it and had its
range.

Before the St. Mihiel drive one could go to Bouconville
or Eaulecourt only at night. As soon as it was dark the
supply outfits on the trucks would be lined up awaiting
the word from the Military Police to go.

Everyone had to travel a hundred yards apart. Only
three men would be allowed to go at once, so dangerous
was the trip.

Out of the night would come a voice :

" Halt ! Who goes there ? Advance and give the
countersign."

Every man was regarded as an enemy and spy until he
was proven otherwise. And the countersign had to be
given mighty quick, too. So the men were warned when
they were sent out to be ready with the countersign and
not to hesitate, for some had been slow to respond and had
been promptly shot. The ride through the night in the
dark without lights, without sound, over rough, shell-
plowed roads had plenty of excitement.

Bouconville for seven months could never be entered
by day. The dugout wall of the hut was filled with sand-
bags to keep it up. It was at Bouconville, in the Salvation
Army hut, that the raids on the enemy were organized, the
men were gathered together and instructed, and trench

THE SALVATION ARMY 227

knives given out; and here was where they weeded out any
who were afraid they might sneeze or cough and so give
warning to the enemy.

Not until after the St. Mihiel drive when Montsec
was behind the line instead of in front did they dare enter
Bouconville by day.

Passing through Mandres, it was necessary to go to
Beaumont, around Dead Man's Curve and then to Eam-
bucourt, and proceed to Bouconville. Here the Salvation

Army had an outpost in a partially destroyed residence.
The hut consisted of the three ground floor rooms, the can-
teen being placed in the middle. The sleeping quarters
were in a dugout just at the rear of these buildings. It
was in the building adjoining this hut that three men were
killed one day by an exploding shell, and gas alarms were
60 frequent in the night that it was very difficult for the
'Salvation Army people to secure sufficient rest as on the
sounding of every gas alarm it was necessary to rise and
put on the gas mask and keep it on until the '^ alerte " was
removed. This always occurred several times during the
night.

It was just outside of Bouconville that the famous
doughnut truck experience occurred. The supply truck.

228 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

driven by two young Salvation Army men, one a mere boy,
was making its rounds of the huts with supplies and in
order to reach Raulecourt, the boy who was driving decided
to take the shortest road, which, by the way, was under
complete obervation of the Germans located at Montsec.
The truck had already been shelled on its way to Boucon-
ville, several shells landing at the edge of the road within
a few feet of it. They had not noticed the first shell, for
shells were a somewhat common thing, and the old truck
made so much noise that they had not heard it coming,
but when the second one fell so close one of the boys said :
" Say, they must be shooting at ils! '* as though that were
something unexpected.

They stepped on the accelerator and the truck shot
forward madly and tore into the town with shells break-
ing about it. Having escaped thus far they were ready
to take another chance on the short cut to Raulecourt.

They proceeded without mishaps for some distance.
Just outside of Bouconville was a large shell hole in the
road and in trying to avoid this the wheels of the truck
slipped into the ditch, and the driver found he was stuck.
It was impossible to get out under his own power. While
working with the truck, the Germans began to shell him
again. At first the two boys paid little heed to it, but
when more began to come they knew it was time to leave.
They threw themselves into a communicating trench, which
was really no more than a ditch, and wiggled their way up
the bank until they were able to drop into the main trenches,
where they found safety in a dugout.

The Germans meantime were shelling the truck furi-
ously, the shells dropping all around on either side, but not
actually hitting it. This was about two o'clock in the
afternoon.

"it was just outside of bouconville that the famous

DOUGHNUT TRUCK EXPERIENCE OCCURRED" AND THIS IS THE

salvation army boy who drove it

THE SALVATION ARMY 229

At Headquarters they were becoming anxious about the
non-appearance of the truck and started out in the touring
car to locate it. Commencing at Jouey-les-Cotes they went
from there to Boucq and Raulecourt, which were the last
places the truck was to visit. Not hearing of it at Eaule-
court, the search was continued out to Bouconville, again
by a short road. Montsec was in full view. There were
fresh shell holes all along the road since the night before.
Things began to look serious.

A short distance ahead was an army truck, and even as
they got abreast of it a shell went over it exploding about
twenty-five feet away, and one hit the side of the road just
behind them. It seemed wise to put on all speed.

But when they reached Bouconville and found that the
truck they had passed was the Salvation Army truck, they
were unwilling to leave it to the tender mercies of the enemy
as everybody advised. That truck cost fifty-five hundred
dollars, and they did not want to lose it.

As soon as it was dark a detail of soldiers volunteered to
go with the Salvation Army officers to attempt to get it
out, but the Germans heard them and started their shelling
furiously once more, so that they had to retreat for a time ;
but later, they returned and worked all night trying to jack
it up and get a foundation that would permit of hauling it
out. Every little while all night the Germans shelled them.
About half-past four in the morning it grew light enough
for the enemy to see, and the top was taken off the truck
so that it would not be so good a mark.

That day they went back to Headquarters and secured
permission for an ammunition truck to come down and give
them a tow, as no driver was permitted out on that road
without a special permit from Headquarters. The journey
back was filled with perils from gas shells, especially

230 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

around Dead Man's Curve, but they escaped unhurt. That
night they attached a tow line to the front of the truck,
started the engine quietly, and waited until the assisting
truck came along out of the darkness. They then attached
their line without stopping the other truck and with the aid
of its own power the old doughnut truck was jerked out of
the ditch at last and sent on its way. In spite of the
many shells for which it had been a target it was unin-
jured save that it needed a new top. The knowledge that
the truck was stuck in the ditch and was being shelled
aroused great excitement among all the troops in the Toul
Sector and it was thereafter an object of considerable
interest. Newspaper correspondents telegraphed reports
of it around the world.

In most of the huts and dugouts Salvation Army
workers subsist entirely upon Army chow. At Boucon-
ville the chow was frequently supplemented by fresh fish.
The dugout here was very close to the trenches, less than
five minutes' walk. Just behind the trenches to the left was
a small lake. When there was sufficient artillery fire to
mask their attack, soldiers would toss a hand grenade into
this lake, thus stunning hundreds of fish which would float
to the surface, where they were gathered in by the sackful.
The Salvation Army dugout was never without its share
of the spoils.

Before the soldiers began to think, as they do now, that
being detailed to the Salvation Army hut was a privilege,
an Army officer sent one of his soldiers, who seemed to be
in danger of developing a yellow streak, to sweep the hut
and light the fires for the lassies. "You are only fit to
wash dishes, and hang on to a woman's skirts," he told the
soldier in informing him that he was detailed. That night
the village was bombed. The boy, who was really fright-

THE SALVATION ARMY 231

ened, watched the two girls, being too proud to run for
shelter while they were so calm. He trembled and shook
while they sat quietly listening to the swish of falling
bombs and the crash of anti-aircraft guns. In spite of his
fright, he was so ashamed of his fears that he forced him-
self to stand in the street and watch the progress of the
raid. The next day he reported to his Captain that he had
vanquished his yellow streak and wanted a chance to demon-
strate what he said. The demonstration was ample. The
example of these brave lassies had somehow strengthened
his spirit.

Back of Eaulecourt the woods were full of heavy artil-
lery. Eaulecourt was the first town back of the front lines.
The men were relieved every eight days and passed through
here to other places to rest.

The military authorities sent word to the Salvation
Army hut one day that fifty Frenchmen would be going
through from the trenches at five o'clock in the morning
who would have had no opportunity to get anything to eat.

The Salvation Army people went to work and baked up
a lot of biscuits and doughnuts and cakes, and got hot
coffee ready. The Eed Cross canteen was better situated
to serve the men and had more conveniences, so they took
the things over there, and the Eed Cross supplied hot
chocolate, and when the men came they were well served.
This is a sample of the spirit of cooperation which pre-
vailed. One Sunday night they were just starting the even-
ing service when word came from the military authorities
that there were a hundred men coming through the town
who were hungry and ought to be fed. They must be out
of the town by nine-thirty as they were going over the top
that night. Could the Salvation Army do anything?

The woman officer who was in charge was perplexed.

232 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

She had nothing cooked ready to eat, the fire was out, her
detailed helpers all gone, and she was just beginning a
meeting and hated to disappoint the men already gathered,
but she told the messenger that if she might have a couple
of soldiers to help her she would do what she could. The
soldiers were supplied and the fire was started. At ten
minutes to nine the meeting was closed and the earnest
young preacher went to work making biscuits and choco-
late with the help of her two soldier boys. By ten o'clock
all the men were fed and gone. That is the way the Salva-
tion Army does things. They never say " I can't.'' They
always CAN.

In Eaulecourt there were several pro-Germans. The
authorities allowed them to stay there to save the town.
The Salvation Army people were warned that there were
spies in the town and that they must on no account give
out information. Just before the St. Mihiel drive a spe-
cial warning was given, all civilians were ordered to leave
town, and a Military Police knocked at the door and in-
formed the woman in the hut that she must be careful
what she said to anybody with the rank of a second lieu-
tenant, as word had gone out there was a spy dressed in the
uniform of an American second lieutenant.

That night at eleven o'clock the young woman was just
about to retire when there came a knock at the canteen door.
She happened to be alone in the building at the time and
when she opened the door and found several strange offi-
cers standing outside she was a little frightened. Nor did
it dispel her fears to have them begin to ask questions :

" Madam, how many troops are in this town ? Where
are they ? Where can we get any billets ? "

To all these questions she replied that she could not tell
or did not know and advised them to get in touch with the

THE SALVATION ARMY 233

town Major. The visitors grew impatient. Then three
more men knocked at the door, also in uniform, and began
to ask questions. When they could get no information one
of them exclaimed indignantly :

" Well, I should like to know what kind of a town this
is, anyway ? I tried to find out something from a Military
Police outside and he took me for a SPY ! Madam, we are
from Field Hospital Number 12, and we want to find a
place to rest.^'

Then the frightened young woman became convinced
that her visitors were not spies ; all the same, they were not
going to leave her any the wiser for any information she
would give.

Several times men would come to the town and find no
place to sleep. On such, occasions the Salvation Army hut
was turned over to them and they would sleep on the floor.

The St. Mihiel drive came on and the hut was turned
over to the hospital. The supplies were taken to a dugout
and the canteen kept up there. Then the military authori-
ties insisted that the girls should leave town, but the
girls refused to go, begging, "Don't drive us away. We
know we shall be needed ! " The Staff-Captain came down
and took some of the girls away, but left two in the canteen,
and others in the hospital.

It rained for two weeks in Eoulecourt. The soldiers
slept in little dog tents in the woods.

The meetings held the boys at the throne of God each
night, they were the power behind the doughnut, and the
boys recognized it.

" One hesitated to ask them if they wanted prayers be-
cause we knew they did," said one sweet woman back from
the front, speaking about the time of the St. Mihiel drive.
"We couldn't say how many knelt at the altar because

234 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

they all knelt. Some of them would walk five miles to
attend a meeting."

It poured torrents the night of the drive and nearly-
drowned out the soldiers in their little tents.

They came into the hut to shake hands and say good-
bye to the girls; to leave their little trinklets and ask for
prayers; and they had their meeting as always before a
drive.

But this was an even more solemn time than usual, for
the boys were going up to a point where the French had
suffered the fearful loss of thirty thousand men trying to
hold Mt. Sec for fifteen minutes. They did not expect to
come back. They left sealed packages to be forwarded if
they did not return.

One boy came to one of the Salvation Army men Offi-
cers and said : " Pray for me. I have given my heart to
Jesus."

Another, a Sergeant, who had lived a hard life, came
to the Salvation Army Adjutant and said: "When I go
back, if I ever go, I'm going to serve the Lord."

After the meeting the girls closed the canteen and on
the way to their room they passed a little sort of shed or
barn. The door was standing open and a light streaming
out, and there on a little straw pallet lay a soldier boy rolled
up in his blanket reading his Testament. The girls breathed
a prayer for the lad as they passed by and their hearts
were lifted up with gladness to think how many of the
American boys, fully two-thirds of them, carried their
Testaments in the pockets over their hearts ; yes, and read
them, too, quite openly.

Two young Captains came one night to say good-bye to
the girls before going up the line. The girls told them they
would be praying for them and the elder of the two, a doc-

THE SALVATION ARMY 235

tor, said how much he appreciated that, and then told them
how he had promised his wife he would read a chapter in
his Testament every day, and how he had never failed to
keep his promise since he left home.

Then up spoke the other man :

" Well, I got converted one night on the road. The
shells were falling pretty thick and I thought I would never
reach my destination and I just promised the Lord if He
would let me get safely there I would never fail to read a
chapter, and I never have failed yet ! '' This young man
seemed to think that the whole plan of redemption was
comprised in reading his Bible, but if he kept his promise
the Spirit would guide him.

On the way back to the hut one morning the girls picked
marguerites and forget-me-nots and put them in a vase on
the table in the hut, making it look like a little oasis in a
desert, and no doubt, many a soldier looked long at those
blossoms who never thought he cared about flowers before.

Within thirty-six hours after the first gun was fired in
the St. Mihiel drive seven Salvation Army huts were estab-
lished on the territory.

Three days before the drive opened twenty Salvation
Army girls reached Eaulecourt, which was a little village
half a mile from Montsec. They had been travelling for
hours and hours and were very weary.

The Salvation Army hut had been turned over to the
hospital, so they found another old building.

That night there was a gas alarm sounded and every-
body came running out with their gas masks on. The
officer who had them in charge was much worried about
his lassies because some of them had a great deal of hair,
and he was afraid that the heavy coils at the back of their
heads would prevent the masks from fitting tightly and let
in the deadly gas, but the lassies were level-headed girls.

236 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

and they came calmly out with their masks on tight and
their hair in long braids down their backs, much to the
relief of their oflBcer.

It had been raining for days and the men were wet to
the skin, and many of them had no way to get dry except
to roll up in their blankets and let the heat of their body
dry their clothes while they slept. It was a great comfort
to have the Salvation Army hut where they could go and
get warm and dry once in awhile.

The night of the St. Mihiel drive was the blackest
night ever seen. It was so dark that one could positively
see nothing a foot ahead of him. The Salvation Army
lassies stood in the door of the canteen and listened. All
day long the heavy artillery had been going by, and now
that night had come there was a sound of feet, tramping,
tramping, thousands of feet, through the mud and slush
as the soldiers went to the front. In groups they were
singing softly as they went by. The first bunch were sing-
ing "Mother Machree."

There's a spot in me heart that no colleen may own,
There's a depth in me soul never sounded or known;
There's a place in me memory, me life, that you fill,
No other can take it, no one ever will;
Sure, I love the dear silver that shines in your hair,
And the brow that's all furrowed and wrinkled with care.
I kiss the dear fingers, so toil-worn for me;
O, God bless you and keep you!
Mother Machree!
The simple pathos of the voices, many of them tramp-
ing forward to their death, and thinking of mother, brought
the tears to the eyes of the girls who had been mothers and
sisters, as well as they could, to these boys during the days
of their waiting.

Then the song would die slowly away and another group
would come by singing: "TeU mother 111 be there!''

THE SALVATION AEMY 237

Always the thought of mother. A little interval and the
jolly swing of " Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag
and smile, smile, smile ! '' came floating by, and then
sweetly, solemnly, through the chill of the darkness, with
a thrill in the words, came another group of voices :

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide,
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide!'

There had been rumors that Montsec was mined and
that as soon as a foot was set upon it it would blow up.

The girls went and lay down on their cots and tried to
sleep, praying in their hearts for the boys who had gone
forth to fight. But they could not sleep. It was as though
they had all the burden of all the mothers and wives and
sisters of those boys upon them, as they lay there, the only
women within miles, the only women so close to the lines.

About half -past one a big naval gun went off. It was
as though all the noises of the earth were let loose about
them. They could lie still no longer. They got up, put on
their rain-coats, rubber boots, steel helmets, took their gas
masks and went out in the fields where they could see.
Soon the barrage was started. Darkness took on a rosy
hue from shells bursting. First a shell fell on Montsec.
Then one landed in the ammunition dump just back of it
and blew it up, making it look like a huge crater of a
volcano. It seemed as if the universe were on fire. The
noise was terrific. The whole heavens were lit up from end
to end. The beauty and the horror of it were indescribable.

At five o'clock they went sadly back to the hut.

The hospital tents had been put up in the dark and now
stood ready for the wounded who were expected momen-
tarily. The girls took off their rain-coats and reported for
duty. It was expected there would be many wounded. The
minutes passed and still no wounded arrived. Day broke
and only a few wounded men had been brought in. It was

238 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

reported that the roads were so bad that the ambulances
were slow in getting there. With sad hearts the workers
waited, but the hours passed and still only a straggling few
arrived, and most of those were merely sick from explosives.
There were almost no wounded ! Only ninety in all.

Then at last there came one bearing a message. There
were no wounded! The Germans had been taken so by
surprise, the victory had been so complete at that point,
that the boys had simply leaped over all barriers and gone
on to pursue the enemy. Quickly packing up seven outfits
a little company of workers started after their divisions on
trucks over ground that twenty-four hours before had been
occupied by the Germans, on roads that were checkered
with many shell holes which American road makers were
busily filling up and bridging as they passed.

One of the Salvation Army truck drivers asked a negro
road mender what he thought of his job. He looked up
with a pearly smile and a gleam of his eyes and replied:
"Boss, I'se doin' mah best to make de world safe fob
Democrats ! ''

They had to stop frequently to remove the bodies of
dead horses from the way so recently had that place been
shelled. They passed through grim skeletons of villages
shattered and torn by shell fire; between tangles of rusty
barbed wire that marked the front line trenches. Then on
into territory that had long been held by the Huns. More
than half of the villages they passed were partially burned
by the retreating enemy. All along the way the pitiful vil-
lagers, free at last, came out to greet them with shouts of
welcome, calling "Bonnes Americaines! Bonnes Ameri-
caines V' Some flung their arms about the Salvation Army
lassies in their joy. Some of the villagers had not even
known that the Americans were in the war until they saw
them.

THE SALVATION ARMY 239

In the village of Nonsard a little way beyond Mt. Sec
they found a building that twenty -four hours before had
been a German canteen. Above the entrance was the sign
'' KAMERAD, tritt' ein/^

The Salvation Army people stepped in and took pos-
session, finding everything ready for their use. They even
found a lard can full of lard and after a chemist had
analyzed it to make sure it was not poisoned they fried
doughnuts with it. In one wall was a great shell hole, and
the village was still under shell fire as they unloaded their
truck and got to work. One lassie set the water to heat for
hot chocolate, while another requisitioned a soldier to
knock the head off a barrel of flour and was soon up to her
elbows mixing the dough for doughnuts. Before the first
doughnut was out of the hot fat several hundred soldiers
were waiting in long, patient, ever-growing lines for free
doughnuts and chocolate. These things were always served
free after the men had been over the top.

The lassies had had no sleep for thirty-six hours, but
they never thought of stopping until everybody was served.
In that one day their three tons of supplies entirely gave
out.

The Eed Cross was there with their rolling kitchen.
They had plenty of bread but nothing to put on it. The
Salvation Army had no stove on which to cook anything,
but they had quantities of jam and potted meats. They
turned over ten cases of jam, some of the cases containing
as many as four hundred small jars, to the Red Cross, who
served it on hot biscuits. Some one put up a sign : " THIS
JAM FURNISHED BY THE SALVATION ARMY ! ''
and the soldiers passed the word along the line : " The finest
sandwich in the world, Red Cross and Salvation Army ! "

The first day two Salvation Army girls served more

240 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

than ten thousand soldiers in their canteen. They did not
even stop to eat. The Eed Cross brought them over hot
chocolate as they worked.

Evening brought enemy airplanes, but the lassies did
not stop for that and soon their own aerial forces drove
the enemy back.

That night the girls slept in a dirty German dugout,
and they did not dare to clean up the place, or even so much
as to move any of the debris of papers ajid old tin and paste-
board cracker boxes, or cans that were strewn around the
place until the engineer experts came to examine things,
lest it might be mined and everything be blown up. The
girls set up their cots in the clearest place they could find,
and went to sleep. One of the women, however, who had
just arrived, had lost her cot, and being very weary crawled
into a sort of berth dug by the Germans in the wall, where
some German had slept. She found out from bitter experi-
ence what cooties are like.

The next morning they were hard at work again as
early as seven o'clock. Two long lines of soldiers were
already patiently waiting to be served. The girls wondered
whether they might not have been there aU night. This
continued all day long.

" We had to keep on a perpetual grin," said one of the
lassies, " so that each soldier would think he had a smile all
his own. We always gave everything with a smile.^^

Yet they were not smiles of coquetry. One had but to
see the beautiful earnest faces of those girls to know that
nothing unholy or selfish entered into their service. It was
more like the smile that an angel might give.

Here is one of the many popular songs that have been
written on the subject which shows how the soldiers felt :

THE SALVATION AEMY 241

SALVATION LASSIE OF MINE.
" They say it's in Heaven that all angels dwell,

But I've come to learn they're on earth just as well;
And how would I know that the like could be so,
If I hadn't found one down here below?

Chorus.
A sweet little Angel that went o'er the sea,

With the emblem of God in her hand;
A wonderful Angel who brought there to me

The sweet of a war-furrowed land.
The crown on her head was a ribbon of red,

A symbol of all that's divine;
Though she called each a brother she's more like a mother,

Salvation Lassie of Mine.

Perhaps in the future I'll meet her again,

In that world where no one knows sorrow or pain;

And when that time comes and the last word is said,
Then place on my bosom her band of red.'*

By " Jack " Caddigan and " Chick " 8toy.

That day a shell fell on the dugout where they had slept
the night before, and a little later one dropped next door to
the canteen ; another took seven men from the signal corps
right in the street near by, and the girls were ordered out
of the village because it was no longer safe for them.

One of the boys had been up on a pole putting up wires
for the signal corps. These boys often had to work as now
under shell fire in daytime because it was necessary to
have telephone connections complete at once. A shell struck
him as he worked and he fell in front of the canteen. They
had just carried him away to the ambulance when his
chum and comrade came running up. A pool of blood lay
on the floor in front of the canteen, and he stood and gazed
with anguish in his face. Suddenly he stooped and patted
the blood tenderly murmuring, " My Buddy ! My Buddy ! ''
Then like a flash he was off, up the pole where his com-
rade had been killed to finish his work. That is the kind
of brave boys these girls were serving.
16

IX.

THE AUGONNE DRIVE.

That night they slept in the woods on litters, and the
next day they went on farther into the woods, twelve kilo-
metres beyond what had been German front.

Here they found a whole little village of German dug-
outs in the form of log cabin bungalows in the woods. It
was a beautifully laid out little village, each bungalow
complete, with running water and electric lights and all
conveniences. There were a dance hall, a billiard room, and
several pianos in the woods. There were also fine vegetable
gardens and rabbit hutches full of rabbits, for the Germans
had been obliged to leave too hastily to take anything with
them.

The boys were hungry, some of them half starved for
something different from the hard fare they could take
with them over the top, and they made rabbit stews and
cooked the vegetables and had a fine time.

The girls up at the front had no time for making
doughnuts, so the girls back of the lines made 8000 dough-
nuts and sent them up by trucks for distribution. They
also distributed oranges to the soldiers.

News came to the girls after they had been for a week in
Nonsard that they were to make a long move.

Back to Verdun they went and stopped just long enough
to look at the city. They were much impressed with St.
Margaret^s school for young ladies, and a wonderful old
cathedral standing on the hill with a wall surrounding it.
Just the face of the building was left, all the rest shot
away, and through the concrete walls were holes, with guns
bristling from every one.
242

HERE THE> I >\ h A WHOLE LITTLE VILLAGE OF GERMAN DUGOUTS

THE SALVATION ARMY 243

They did not linger long for duty called them forward
on their journey. At dusk they stopped in a little village,
bought some stuff, and asked a French woman to cook it
for them. They inquired for a place in which to wash and
were given a bar of soap and directed to the village pump
up the street. After supper they went on their way to
Benoitvaux. Here they found difficulty in getting quarters,
but at last an old French woman agreed to let them sleep
in her kitchen and for a couple of days they were quartered
with her. The word went forth that there were two Ameri-
can girls there and people were most curious to see them.
One afternoon two French soldiers came to the kitchen to
visit them. It was raining, as usual, and the girls had stayed
in because there was really nothing to call them out. The
soldiers sat for some time talking. They had heard that
America was a wild place with heaucoup Indians who wore
scalps in their belts, and they wanted to know if the girls
were not afraid. It was a bit difficult conversing, but the
girls got out their French dictionary and managed to con-
vey a little idea of the true America to the strangers. At
last one of the soldiers in quite a matter of fact tone in-
formed one of the girls that he was pleased with her and
loved her very much. This put a hasty close to the con-
versation, the lassie informing him with much dignity that
men did not talk in that way to girls they had just met in
America and that she did not like it. Whereupon the girls
withdrew to the other end of the kitchen and turned their
backs on their callers, busying themselves with some read-
ing, and the crest-fallen gallants presently left.

They only had a canteen here one day when they were
called to go on to Neuvilly.

When the offensive was extended to the Argonne the
Salvation Army followed along, keeping in touch with the

244 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

troops so that they felt that the Salvation Army was ever
with them, sharing their hardships and dangers, and always
ready to serve them.

Just before a drive, close to the front, there are always
blockades of trucks going either way.

The Salvation Army truck filled with the workers on
their way to ]N"euvilly one dark night was caught in such a
blockade. They crawled along making only about a mile
an hour and stopping every few minutes until there was a
chance to go on again. At last the wait grew longer and
longer, the mud grew deeper, and the truck was having
such a hard time that the little company of travellers de-
cided to abandon it to the side of the road till morning
and get out and walk to Neuvilly. There was a field hos-
pital there and they felt sure they could be of use ; and any-
way, it was better than sitting in the truck all night. They
were then about eight kilometers from the front. So they
all got off and walked. But when they reached the place,
found the hospital, and essayed to go in, the mud was so
deep that they were stuck and unable to move forward.
Some soldiers had to rescue them and carry them to the
hospital on litters.

Their help was accepted gladly, and they went to work
at once. There were many shell-shocked boys coming in
who needed soothing and comforting, and a woman's hand
so near the front was gratefully appreciated.

When at last there was a lull in the stream of wounded
men the girls went to find a place to sleep for a little
while. It was early morning, and sad sights met their eyes
as they hurried do^vn what had once been a pleasant village
street. Destruction and desolation everywhere. The house
that had been selected for a Salvation Army canteen was
nearly all gone. One end was comparatively intact, with

THE SALVATION ARMY M5

the floor still remaining, and this was to be for the canteen.
The rest of the building was a series of shell holes surround-
ing a cellar from which the floor had been shot away.

The women reconnoitred and finally decided to unfold
their cots and try to get a wink of sleep down in that cel-
lar. It did not take them long to get settled. The cots
were brought down and placed quickly among the fallen
rafters, stone and tiling. Part of the walls that were stand-
ing leaned in at a perilous slant, threatening to fall at the
slightest wind, but the lassies took off their shoes, rolled
up in their blankets, and were at once oblivious to all about
them, for they had been travelling all the day before and
had worked hard all night.

One hour later, still early in the morning, they were
awakened by the arrival of the truck and the thumping of
boxes, tables and supplies as the Salvation Army truck
drivers unloaded and set up the paraphernalia of the can-
teen. The girls opened their eyes and looked about them,
and there aU around the building were American soldiers,
a head in every shell hole, watching them sleep. There was
something thrilling in the silent audience looking down
with holy eyes — ^yes, I said holy eyes! — for whatever the
American soldier may be in his daily life he had nothing in
his eyes but holy reverence for these women of God who
were working night and day for him. There was some-
thing touching, too, in their attitude, for perhaps each one
was thinking of his mother or sister at home as he looked
down on these weary girls, rolled up in the brown blankets,
with their neat little browTi shoes in couples under their
cots, nothing visible above the blankets but their pretty
rumpled brown hair.

The women did not waste much more time in sleeping.
They arose at once and got busy. There were five tables in

246 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

the canteen above and already from each one there stretched
a long line of men waiting silently, patiently for the time to
arrive when there would be something good to eat. The girls
had no more sleep that day, and there* simply was no se-
clusion to be had anywhere. Everything was shell-riddled.

When night came on the question of beds arose again.
The cellar seemed hardly possible, and the military officers
considered the question.

Across the road from the most ruined end of the can-
teen building stood an old church. All of its north wall
was gone save a supporting column in the middle, all the
north roof gone. There were holes in all the other walls,
and all the windows were gone. The floor was covered
with debris and wreckage. It had been used all day for an
evacuation hospital.

Just over the altar was a wonderful picture of the
Christ ascending to heaven. It was still uninjured save
for a shot through the heart.

The military officer stood on the steps of this ruined
church, and, looking around in perplexity, remarked :

^^ Well, I guess this is the wholest place in town.^'
Then stepping inside he glanced about and pointed :

" And this is the most secluded spot here ! "

The seclusion was a pillar ! But the girls were glad to
get even that for there was no other place, and they were
very weary. So they set up their little cots, and prepared
to roll themselves in their blankets for a well-earned rest.

The boys had built a small bonfire on the stone floor
against a piece of one wall that was still standing, and now
they sent a deputation to know if the girls would bring their
guitars over and have a little music. The boys, of course,
had no idea that the girls had not slept for more than
twenty-four hours, and the girls never told them. They

THE SALVATION ARMY 247

never even cast one wistful glance toward their waiting
cots, but smilingly assented, and went and got their
instruments.

Beneath the picture of the Christ, in front of the altar
a few men were at work in an improvised office with four
candles burning around them. In the rear of the church
Lt.-Col. Frederick R. Fitzpatrick of the One Hundred and
Tenth Ammunition Train had his office, and there another
candle was burning. Some wounded men lay on stretchers
in the shadowed northwest corner, and around the little fire
the five Salvation Army lassies sat among two hundred
soldiers. They sang at first the popular songs that every-
body knew : ^' The Long, Long Trail,^' " Keep the Home
Fires Burning," " Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit
Bag and Smile ! Smile ! Smile ! " and " Keep Your Head
Down, Fritzie Boy ! '^

By and by some one called for a hymn, and then other
hymns followed : " Jesus Lover of My Soul," " When the
EoU Is Called Up Yonder," and, as always, the old favorite,
" Tell Mother Fll Be There ! "

They sang for at least an hour and a half, and then they
did not want to stop. Oh, but it was a great sound that
rolled through the old broken walls of the church and
floated out into the night! One of the lassies said she
would not change crowds with the biggest choir in New
York.

Then they asked the girls to sing and the room was
very still as two sweet voices thrilled out in a tender
melody, speaking every word distinctly :

Beautiful Jesus, Bright Star of earth!
Loving and tender from moment of birth,
Beautiful Jesus, though lowly Thy lot,
Born in a manger, so rude was Thy cot!

248 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

Beautiful Jesus, gentle and mild,
Light for the sinner in ways dark and wild.
Beautiful Jesus, O save such just now,
As at Thy feet they in penitence bow!

Beautiful Christ! Beautiful Christ!
Fairest of thousands and Pearl of great price!
Beautiful Christ! Beautiful Christ!
Gladly we welcome Thee, Beautiful Christ!

Before they had finished many eyes had turned instinc-
tively toward the picture in the weirdly flickering light.

Then the young Captain-lassie asked her sister to read
the Ninety-first Psalm, " He that dwelleth in the secret
place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the
Almighty/' and she told them that was a promise for those
who trusted in God, and she wished they would think about
it while they were going to sleep.

" This evening has made me think so much of home/'
she said thoughtfully, drooping her lashes and then raising
them with a sweeping glance that included the whole group,
while the firelight flickered up and lit her lovely serious
face, and touched her hair with lights of gold, " I sup-
pose it has made every one else feel that way,'' she went on ;
" I mean especially the evenings at home when the family
gathered in the parlor, with one at the piano and brothers
with their horns, and the rest with some kind of instru-
ment, and we had a good ' sing ; ' and afterward father
took the Bible and read the evening chapter, and then we
had family prayers and kissed Mamma and Papa good
night and went to bed. I shouldn't wonder if many of you
used to have homes like that ? "

The lassie raised her eyes again and looked on them.
Many of the men nodded. It was beautiful to see the look
that came into their faces at these recollections.

THE SALVATION ARMY 249

^^And you used to have family prayers, too, didn't
you ? " she asked eagerly.

They nodded once more but some of them turned their
faces away from the light quickly and brushed the back of
their hands across their eyes.

" To-night has been a family gathering," she went on.
" We girls are little sisters to all you big brothers, and we
have had a delightful time with just the family, and the
evening chapter has been read, and now I think it would
not be complete if we did not have the family prayers be-
fore we separate and go to sleep."

Down went the heads in response^ with reverent mien,
and the place was very still while the lassie prayed. After-
ward the boys joined their gruff voices, husky now with
emotion, into the universal prayer with which she closed:
" Our Father which are in heaven "

They were all sorts and conditions of men gathered
around the little fire in that old shell-torn church in Neu-
villy that night. To quote from a letter written by a
military officer, Lt-Col. Frederick R. Fitzpatrick, to his
wife :

" There was the lad who was willing but not strong enough
for field work, who was in the rear with the office; the walking
wounded who had stopped for something to eat; the big, strong
mule skinner who could throw a mule down or lift a case of.
ammunition, who was rough in appearance and speech and who
would deny that the moisture in his eye was anything but the
effects of the cold. There were the men who had been facing
death a thousand times an hour for the last three days, who had
not had a wash or a chance to take off their shoes and had been
lying in mud in shell holes — ^men who looked as though they
were chilled through and through ; men on their way to the front,
well knowing all the hardships and dangers which were ahead of
them, but who were worried only about the delay in the traffic;
doctors who had been working for three days without Test; men,

250 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

off ammunition and ration trucks, who had been at the wheel so
long that they had forgotten whether it was three or four days
«.nd nights; wounded on their stretchers enjoying a smoke. And
as I stepped in the door there were the feminine voices singing
the good old tunes we all know so well, and not a sound in the
church but as an accompaniment the distant booming of big
guns, the rattle of small arms, the whirl of air craft, the passing
of the ever-present column of trucks with rations and ammunition
going up, and the wounded coming back; the shouted directions of
the traffic police, the sound of the ammunition dump just outside
the door and the rattle of the kitchens which surround the church,
and which are working twenty-four hours a day.

There was the crowd of men, each uncovered, giving absolute
undivided attention to the good, brave girls who were not making
a meeting of it; it was just a meeting which grew — men who
in their minds were back with mother and sister. The girls sang
the good old songs, and then one of them offered a short prayer,
in which all the men joined in spirit, and as I tip-toed out of the
Qhurch it seemed to me that the four candles at the altar did not
give all the light that was shown on the picture of Christ our
Saviour, Every man in the building that night was in the very
presence of God. It was not a religious meeting ; it was a meeting
full of religion. And it was a picture that will ever stand fresh
in my memory and which will be an inspiration in time of doubt.
There was nothing there but the real things, absolutely no sham of
any kind. Oh, it was wonderful! I hope you can get just a
little idea of what it was. I wish you would keep this letter. I
want to be able to read it in future years."

In what remained of another village not far distant
from Neuvilly, the lassies had a tent erected. The rain
was endless — a driving drizzle which quickly soaked
through everything but the stannchest raincoats in a very
few moments. The ground was so thickly covered by shell
craters that they could find no clear space wide enough for
the tent. It so happened that almost in the centre of the
tent there was a big shell crater. In this the girls lighted
a fire. All through the night, and through nights to fol-

THE SALVATION ARMY 251

low, wounded men limping back through the rain and mud
to the dressing stations came in to warm themselves around
the fire in the shell hole, and to drink of the coffee pre-
pared by the girls. As they sat around the blazing wood,
the fire cast strange shadows on the bleached brown canras
of the tent. In spite of their wounds, they were very cheer-
ful, singing as lightly as though they were safe at home.

Everybody had worked hard at jSTeuvilly, but they
felt they must get to their own outfit as soon as possible at
the Field Hospital up in Cheppy where the wounded were
coming in droves and the boys were pouring in from the
front half-starved, having been fighting all night with
nothing to eat except reserve rations. Some had been
longer with only such rations as they took from their dead
comrades. The need was most urgent, but the puzzle was
how to get there. The roads had been shelled and ploughed
by explosives until there was no possible semblance of a
way, and there were no conveyances to be had. The Zone
Major had gone back for supplies, telling the girls to get
the first conveyance possible going up the road. That was:
enough for the girls. " We\e got to get there " they said,
and when they said that one knew they would. They
searched diligently and at last found a way. One girl rode
on a reel cart, one on a mule team and one went with an
old wagon. They went over roads that had to be made
ahead of them by the engineers, and late in the night,
bruised and sore from head to foot, they arrived at their
destination.

The next morning they reported at the hospital for
work and the Major in charge said: " I never was so glad
to see anybody in my life ! "

They went straight to work and served coffee and sand-
wiches to the poor half-starved men. The Eed Cross men

252 THE WAR ROIVIANCE OF

were there, also, with sandwiches, hot chocolate and candy.

The wounded men continued to pour in, later to be
evacuated to the base hospital; they kept coming and com-
ing, a thousand men where two hundred had been expected.
There was plenty to be done. The girls were put in charge
of different wards. They were under shell fire continu-
ally, but they were too busy to think of that as they hurried
about ministering to the brave soldiers, who gave never a
groan from their white lips no matter what they suffered.

The girls worked about eighteen hours a day, and slept
from about one or two at night to five or six in the morn-
ing. The hospital was in front of the artillery and every
shell that went over to Germany passed over their heads.
When they had been there five days under continual shell
fire from the enemy the General gave orders that they must
leave, that it was no fit place for women so near to the front.

When the Salvation Army Zone Major brought this
order to the girls rebellion shone in their eyes and they
declared they would not leave! They knew they were
needed there, and there they would stay ! The Zone Major
surveyed them with intense satisfaction. He turned on his
heel and went back to the General :

" GeneraV^ he said, with a twinkle, ^^ my girls say they
won't go.''

The General's face softened, and the twinkle flashed
across to his eyes, with something like a tear behind its fire.
Somehow he didn't look like a Commanding Officer who
had just been defied. A wonderful light broke over his
face and he said :

"Well, if the Salvation Army wants to stay let them
stay ! " And so they stayed.

It was in a German-dug cave that they had their head-
quarters, cut out of the side of a hill and opening into the

THE SALVATION ARMY 253

hospital yard. It was a work of art, that cave. There was
a passage-way a hundred feet long with avenues each side
and places for cots, room enough to accommodate a hun-
dred men.

The German airplanes came in droves. When the bugle
sounded every one must get under cover. There must
be nobody in sight for the Germans were out to get indi-
viduals, and even one person was not too insignificant for
them to waste their ammunition upon. They had a mis-
taken idea, perhaps, that this sort of thing destroyed our
morale. The tents, of course, were no protection against
shells and bombs, and presently the Boche began to shell
the town in good earnest, especially at night. Gas alarms,
also, would sound out in the middle of the night and every-
body would have to rush out and put on their gas masks.
They would not last long at a time, of course, but it broke
up any rest that might have been had, and it was only too
evident that the enemy was trying to get the range on the
hospital

One morning, standing by the window making cocoa for
the boys, one of the lassies saw an eight-inch shell land
between the hospital tents, ten feet in front of the window,
and only five feet from the door of the place where the
severely wounded were lying. ' These shells always kill at
two hundred feet. All that saved them was that the shell
buried itself deep in the soft earth and was a dud.

The shells were coming every twenty minutes and there
was no time to lose for now the enemy had their range. At
once all hands got busy and began to evacuate the wounded
men into the Salvation Army cave. The cave would accom-
modate seventy men, but they managed to get a hundred
men inside, most of them on litters. They were all safe and
the drls heard the whistle of the next shell and made haste

254 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

toward safety themselves. But someone had carelessly
dropped a whole outfit of blankets and things across the
passageway of the dugout and the first woman to enter fell
across it, shutting out the other two. Before anything
could be done the next shell struck the doorway, partly
burying the fallen young woman. Inside the dugout rocks
came down on some of the men on litters, and anxious hands
extricated the lassie from the debris that had fallen upon
her, and lifted her tenderly. She was pretty badly bruised
and lamed, besides being wounded on her leg, but the brave
young woman would not claim her wound, nor let it be-
come known to the military authorities lest they would for-
bid the girls to stay at the front any longer. So for three
weeks she patiently limped about and worked with the rest,
quietly bearing her pain, and would not go to the hospital.
One lassie outside was struck on the helmet by a piece of
falling rock. If she had not had on her helmet she would
have been killed.

The shelling continued for six hours.

The hospital was all the time filled with wounded men
and there was plenty to be done twenty-four hours out of
every day. The women moved about among the men as if
they were their own brothers.

A poor sheU-shocked boy lay on his cot talking wildly
in delirium, living over the battle again, charging his men,
ordering them to advance.

"Company H. Advance! See that hill over there?
It's full of Germans, but we've got to take it!**

Then he turned over and began to sob and cry, " Oh
Ood! Oh God!''

A lassie went to him and soothed him, talking to him
gently about home, asking him questions about his mother,
until he grew calm and began to answer her, and rested

THE SALVATION ARMY ^55

back quite rationally. The stretcher-bearers came to take
him to another hospital, and he started up, put out his
hand and cried : " Oh, nurse ! I've got to get back to my
men! Fm the only one left!''

Thus the heart-breaking scenes were multiplied.

One boy came back to the hospital in the Argonne
badly wounded. He called the lassie to him one day as she
passed through the ward, and motioned her to lean down
so he could talk to her. He said he knew he was hard hit
and he wanted to tell her something.

" I was wounded, lying on the ground over there in No
Man's Land," he went on. "It was all dark and I was
waiting for someone to come along and help me. I thought
it was aU up with me and while I was lying there I felt
something. I can't explain it, but I knew it was there and
I saw my mother and I prayed. Then my Buddy came
along and I asked him if he could baptize me. He said he
wasn't very good himself but he guessed the heavenly
Father would understand. So he stooped down and got
some muddy water out of a shell hole close by and put it on
my forehead, and prayed; and now I know it's all right.
I wanted you to know."

Often the boys, Just before they went over the top, would
come to these girls and say:

" We're going up there, now. You pray for us, won't
you?"

One day some boys came to the hut when there were not
many about and asked the girls if they might talk with
them. These boys were going over the top that night.

"We fellows want to ask you something," they said.
" Some of the chaplains have been telling us that if we go
over there and die for liberty that it'll be all right with us
afterward. But we don't believe that dope and we want to

^56 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

know the truth. Do you mean to tell me that if a man has
lived like the devil he's going to be saved just because he
got killed fighting? Wliy, some of us fellows didn't even
go of our own accord. We were drafted. And do you mean
to tell me that counts just the same? We want to know
the truth ! ''

And then the girls had their opportunity to point the
way to Jesus and speak of repentance, salvation from sin,
and faith in the Saviour of the world.

A lassie was stooping over one young boy lying on a
cot, washing his face and trying to make him more com-
fortable, and she noticed a hole in his breast pocket. Stoop-
ing closer she examined it and found it was a piece of high
explosive shell that had gone through the cloth of his
pocket and was embedded in his Testament, which he, like
many of the boys, always kept in his breast pocket.

Another boy lay on a cot biting his lips to bear the
agony of pain, and she asked him what was the matter, was
the wound in his leg so bad ? He nodded without opening
his eyes. She went to ask the doctor if the boy couldn't
have some morphine to dull the pain. The Sergeant in
charge came over and looked at him, examined the band-
age on the boy's leg and then exclaimed : " Who bandaged
this leg?''

" I did,'' said the boy weakly, " I did the best I could."

The poor fellow had bandaged his own leg and then
walked to the hospital. The bandage had looked all right
and no one had examined it until then, but the Sergeant
found that it was so tight that it had stopped the circula-
tion. He took off the bandage and made him comfortable,
and the agony left him. In a little while the Salvation
Army lassie passed that way again and found the boy with
a little book open, reading.

THE SALVATION ARMY 257

'^ What is it ? " she asked, looking at the book.

" My Testament/' he answered with a smile,

^^ Are you a Christian ? "

" Oh, yes/' he said with another smile that meant
volumes.

It grew dark in the tent for they dared not have lights
on account of the enemy always watching, but stooping
near a little later she could see that his lips were murmur-
ing in prayer. There was an angeKc smile on his white,
dead face in the morning when they came to take him away.

There was a funeral every day in that place, A hun-
dred boys were buried that week. Always the girls sang at
the graves, and prayed. There would be just the grave
digger, a few people, and some of the boys. Off to one side
the Germans were buried. When the simple services over
our own dead were complete one of the girls would say:
^^ISTow, friends, let us go and say a prayer beside our
enemy's graves. They are some mother's boys, and some
woman is waiting for them to come home ! "

And then the prayers would be said once more, and
another song sung.

Those were solemn, sorrowful times, death and destruc-
tion on every side. The fighting was everywhere. United
States anti-aircraft guns firing at German planes; GerV-
mans firing at us ; air fights in the sky above.

And in the midst of it all the boys had meetings every
night on log piles out in the open. These meetings would
begin with popular songs, but the boys would soon ask for
the hymns and the meetings would work themselves out
without any apparent leading up to it. The boys wanted
it. They wanted to hear about religious things. They
hungered for it. So they were held at the throne of God
17

258 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

each night by the wonderful men and girls who had learned
to know human hearts, and had attained such skill in lead-
ing them to the Christ for whom they lived.

It was not alone the doughnut that bound the hearts
of the boys to the Salvation Army in France, it was what
was behind the doughnut; and here, in these wonderful
God-led meetings they found the secret of it all. Many of
them came and told the girls they did not believe in the so-
called " trench religion '^ and wanted to know the truth
from them. And those girls told them the way of eternal
life in a simple, beautiful way, not mincing matters, nor
ignoring their sins and unworthiness, but pointing the way
to the Christ who died to save them from sin, and who even
now was waiting in silent Presence to offer them HimseK.
Great numbers of the men accepted Christ, and pledged
themselves to live or die for Him whatever came to them.

How close the Salvation Army people had grown to the
hearts and lives of the men was shown by the fact that when
they came back from the fight they would always come to
them as if they had come to report at home :

" We\e escaped ! ^' they would say. " We don't know
how it is, but we think it's because you girls were praying
for us, and the folks at home were praying, too ! ''

There were three cardinal principles which were deemed
necessary to success in this work. The first and most im-
portant depended upon winning the confidence of the boys.
This was a prime requisite in any work with the boys,
especially by a religious organization.

The- first quality looked for in a person professing re-
ligion is always consistency. It was felt that if the boys
saw that the Salvation Army was consistent, that it stood
only for those things in France which it was known to
stand for in the United States, that the first step would be

THE SALVATION ARMY 259

established in winning the confidence of the boy., It was
therefore determined that the Salvation Army would not,
under any circumstances, compromise, and that it should
stand out in its religious work and adhere to its teachings
as firmly and as vigorously as it was knowTi to do at home.

A stand upon the tobacco question was, therefore,
highly important. Other organizations were encouraging
the use of tobacco but those who had come in contact with
the Salvation Army at home knew that it had always dis-
couraged its use, and although the officers had to go against
the judgment of many high military authorities who
thought they should handle it, they decided that the Sal-
vation Army would not handle tobacco and that no one
wearing its uniform should use it. The consistency of the
Salvation Army and the careful conduct of its workers won
the esteem of the boys.

The- second requisite was that the Salvation Army should
be willing to share their hardships. To accomplish this, it
was made a rule that Salvation Army workers should not
mess with the officers but should draw their rations at the
soldiers^ mess, also that they should not associate with the
officers more than was absolutely necessary and that in the
huts. It was neither possible nor desirable that officers
should be kept out of the huts, but as far as possible sol-
diers were made to feel that the Salvation Army was in
France to serve them and not for its own pleasure or
convenience.

The third requisite was that the Salvation Army should
be willing to share their dangers and this was proved to
them when they went to the trenches — the Salvation Army
moved to the trenches with them and established huts and
outposts as close to the front line as was permitted.

X.

THE AEMISTICB.

After the Armistice was signed, on November 11th, it
was a great question what disposition would be made of the
troops. It was concluded that they would be sent home as
rapidly as possible and that the three ports — Brest, St.
Nazaire and Bordeaux — would be used for that purpose.
Immediately arrangements were made for the opening of
Salvation Army work at the base ports with a view to let-
ting the boys have a last sight of the Salvation Army as
they left the shores of France. The Salvation Army had
served them in the training area and at the front and were
still serving them as they left the shores of the old world
and it would meet them again when they arrived on the
shores of the home-land. In this way the contact of the
Salvation Army would be continuous, so that when they
returned, it would be able to reach their hearts and affect
their lives with the Gospel of Christ.

The problem of buildings was, of course, the first one
and a very difficult one. To secure buildings of adequate
size, which could be constructed in a short space of time,
was almost out of the question, but it occurred to the
officers that the aviation section would be demobilizing and
that they had brought over portable steel buildings, for use
as hangars. The matter was taken up at once with the
military authorities and twenty of these steel buildings
were secured — each of them sixty-six feet wide by one hun-
dred feet long. It was planned to place eight of them at
Bordeaux, six at St. Nazaire and six at Brest. By placing
two of them end to end it was possible to secure one audi-
torium sixty-six feet wide by two hundred feet long — capa-

THE SALVATION ARMY 261

ble of seating three thousand men. Adjoining that could
be another building sixty-six feet by one hundred feet, to
be used for canteen and rest room.

It was planned to proceed with a religious campaign
at these Base Ports, holding Salvation meetings in these
extensive departments.

When the Army of Occupation was started for Germany,
two Salvation Army trucks were assigned to go along with
the Army. Whenever the Army of Occupation stopped for
a space of two or three days, places were secured where
doughnuts could be fried, pies made, and at all times hot
coffee and chocolate were available for the men.

When the American soldiers marched through the vil-
lages of Alsace-Lorraine the Salvationists marched with
them. At Esch and Luxemburg they were in all the re-
joicing and triumph of the parade, bringing succor and
comfort wherever they could find an opportunity.

When the men arrived at Coblenz the Salvation Army
was there before them, and on their crossing the Rhine,
arrangements had been made for the location of the Sal-
vation Army work at the principal points in the Ehine-
head. They are now conducting Salvation Army opera-
tions with the Army of Occupation.

One of the occasions when President Wilson clapped for
the Salvation Army was at the inauguration of the Sol-
diers' Association in Paris. The Y had invited all the other
organizations to be present. The meeting was held in the
Palais de Glace, which seata about ten thousand people.

President and Mrs. Wilson were present, accompanied
by many prominent American oflScials. Representatives of
the various War Work Organizations spoke.

The Salvationist who had been selected to represent the

262 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

Army at this meeting had been in the United States Navy
for twelve years and was a chaplain.

When he was called upon to speak the boys with one
accord as if by preconcerted action arose to their feet and
gave him an ovation. Of course, it was not given to the
man but to the uniform.

A soldier of the Eainbow Division sitting next to one
of the Salvation Army workers over there, kept telling
him what the boys thought of the Salvation Army, and
when the cheering began he poked the Salvationist in the
ribs and whispered joyously :

^^ I told you ! I told you ! We've just been waiting
for eight months to pull this off ! Now, you see ! ''

The speaker when given opportunity did not attempt to
make a great speech. He told in simple, vivid sentences
of the services of the Salvation Army just back of the
trenches under fire ; and President Wilson sat listening and
applauding with the rest.

The chaplain paid a tribute to President Wilson, fin-
ishing with these words :

" President Wilson was not man-elected, but God-
selected ! '^

CHAPLAINS.

Por some little time after the War started it was a ques-
tion as to whether the Salvation Army was entitled to any
representation in the realm of Chaplaincies of the United
States forces. During the progress of the consideration
Adjutant Harry Kline secured an appointment with the
Nebraska National Guard, and his regiment being made a
part of the National Army, he was received as an officer of
the same and thus became our first Army Chaplain.

The War Office decided favorably with regard to the
question of our general representation, and shortly there-

THE SALVATION ARMY 263

after Adjutant John Allan, of Bowery fame, was given a
first lieutenancy and then followed, in the order given,
Captain Ernest Holz, Adjutant Eyan and Captain Nor-
man Marshall.

The exceptional service that these men have rendered is
of sufficient importance to have a much wider notice than
where only the barest of reference is possible. Shortly after
arrival in France Chaplain Allan was being very favorably
noticed because of the character of the work which he was
doing, and it was gratifying to learn that this confidence
was reflected in his appointment as Senior Chaplain of his
regiment and his assignment to special service where probity
and wisdom were essential. Shortly thereafter he was taken
to the Army Headquarters, where up to the present time he
is most highly esteemed as a co-laborer with Bishop Brent,
the Chaplain-General of the overseas forces.

Typical of the enthusiasm of each of the five men
appointed as Chaplains, the following story is told of First
Lieutenant Ernest Holz, who was inducted into his office
as Senior Chaplain of his regiment right at the com-
mencement of his career.

At the beginning of the year, when Chaplain Holz
knew his Salvation Army comrades would, as usual, be
engaged in special revival work, he thought it would be
a worthy thing to time a similar effort among the men of
his regiment. Approaching the Colonel, he found him in
hearty agreement concerning the effort, and so securing the
assistance of his fellow chaplains they arranged for a series
of meetings nightly for one week, with the result that two
hundred of the men of the regiment confessed Christ and
practically all of them were deeply interested.

The effort was wholly directed to the uplift of the men
and God commanded His blessing in a most gratifying
manner.

XI.

HOMECOMING.

The boat docked that morning, and one soldier at
least, as he stood on the deck and watched the shores of his
native land draw nearer, felt mingling with the thrill of
joy at his return a vague uneasiness. He was coming back,
it is true, but it had been a long time and a lot of things
had happened. For one thing he had lost his foot. That
in itself was a pretty stiff proposition. For another thing
he was not wearing any decorations save the wound stripes
on his sleeve. Those would have been enough, and more
than enough, for his mother if she were alive, but she had
gone away from earth during his absence, and the girl he
had kissed good-bye and promised great things was peculiar.
The question was, would she stand for that amputated
foot? He didn't like to think it of her, but he found he
wasn't sure. Perhaps, if there had been a croix de guerre !
He had promised her to win that and no end of other
honors, when he went away so buoyant and hopeful; but
almost on his first day of real battle he had been hurt
and tossed aside like a derelict, to languish in a hospital,
with no more hope of winning anything. And now he had
come home with one foot gone, and no distinction !

He hadn't told the girl yet about the foot. He didn't
know afi he should. He felt lonely and desolate in spite of
his joy at getting back to " God's Country." He frowned
at the hazy outline of the great city from which tall build-
ings were beginning to differentiate themselves as they
drew nearer. There was New York. He meant to see
"New York, of course. He was a Westerner and had never

264

THE SALVATION ARMY ^Q5

liad an opportunity to go about the metropolis of his own
country. Of course, he would see it all. Perhaps, after
he was demobilized he would stay there. Maybe he wouldn't
send word he had come back. Let them think he was killed
or taken prisoner, or missing, or anything they liked.
There were things to do in New York. There were
places where he would be welcome even with one foot
gone and no cross of war. Thus he mused as the boat
drew nearer the shore and the great city loomed close
at hand. Then, suddenly, just as the boat was touching
the pier and a long murmur of joy went up from the wan-
derers on board, his eyes dropped idly to the dock and there
in her trim little overseas uniform, with the sunlight glanc-
ing from the silver letters on the scarlet shield of her
trench cap and the smile radiating from her sweet face,
stood the very same Salvation Army lassie who had bent
over him as he lay on the ground just back of the trenches
waiting to be put in the ambulance and taken to the hos-
pital after he had been wounded. He could feel again the
throbbing pain in his leg, the sickening pain of his head
as he lay in the hot sun, with the flies swarming every-
where, the horrible din of battle all about, and his tongue
parched and swollen with fever from lying all night in pain
on the wet ground of No Man's Land. She had laid a soft
little hand on his hot forehead, bathed his face, and
brought him a cold drink of lemonade. If he lived to be a
hundred years old he would never taste anything so good
as that lemonade had been. Afterward the doctor said
it was the good cold drink that day that saved the lives
of those fever patients who had lain so long without atten-
tion. Oh, he would never forget the Salvation lassie!
And there she was alive and at home! She hadn't been
killed as the fellows had been afraid she would. She had

«66 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

<;ome through it all and here she was always ahead and
waiting to welcome a fellow home. It brought the tears
smarting to his eyes to think about it, and he leaned over
the rail of the ship and yelled himself hoarse with the rest
over her, forgetting all about his lost foot.

It was hours before they were off the ship. All the red
tape necessary for the movement of such a company of
men had to be unwound and wound up again smoothly, and
the time stretched out interminably ; but somehow it did not
seem so hard to wait now, for there was someone down there
on the dock that he could speak to, and perhaps — just
perhaps — he would tell her of his dilemma about his girl.
Somehow he felt that she would understand.

He watched eagerly when he was finally lined up on the
wharf waiting for roll-call, for he was sure she would come ;
and she did, swinging down the line with her arms full of
<)hocolate, handing out telegraph blanks and postal cards,
real postal cards with a stamp on them that could be mailed
anywhere. He gripped one in his big, rough hand as if
it were a life preserver. A real, honest-to-goodness postal
€ard ! My it was good to see the old red and white stamp
again ! And he spoke impulsively :

^^ You're the girl that saved my life out there in the
£eld, don't you remember ? With the lemonade ! "

Her face lit up. She had recognized him and some-
liow cleared one hand of chocolate and telegrams to grasp
his with a hearty welcome : " I'm so glad you came through
all right ! " her cheery voice said.

All right! All right! Did she call it all right? He
looked down at his one foot with a dubious frown. She
■was quick to see. She understood.

" Oh, but that's nothing ! " she said, and somehow her
Toice put new heart into him. ^'Your folks will be so

THE SALVATION ARMY 267

glad to have you home you'll forget all about it. Come,
aren't you going to send them a telegram ? " And she held
out the yellow blank.

But still he hesitated.

"I don't know/' he said, looking down at his foot
again. " Mother's gone, and "

Instantly her quick sympathy enveloped his sore soul,
and he felt that just the inflection of her voice was like
balm when she said : " I'm so sorry ! " Then she added :

'^ But isn't there somebody else ? I'm sure there was.
I'm sure you told me about a girl I was to write to if you
didn't come through. Aren't you going to let her know?
Of course you are."

" I don't know," said the boy. '^ I don't think I am.
Maybe I'll never go back now. You see, I'm not what I
was when I went away."

" Nonsense ! " said the lassie with that cheerful assur-
ance that had carried her through shell fire and made her
merit the pet name of " Sunsliine " that the boys had given
her in the trenches. *^Why, that wouldn't be fair to her.
Of course, you're going to let her know right away. Leave
it to me. Here, give me her address ! "

Quick as a flash she had the address and was off to a
telephone booth. This was no message that could wait ta
go back to headquarters. It must go at once.

He saw her again before he left the wharf. She gave
him a card with two addresses written on it :

" This first is where you can drop in and rest when you
are tired," she explained. ^^ It's just one of our huts; the
other is where you can find a good bed when you are in
the city."

Then she was off with a smile down the line, giving^
out more telegraph blanks and scattering sunshine wherever

268 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

she went. He glanced back as he left the pier and saw her
still floating eagerly here and there like a little sister
looking after more real brothers.

The next day, when he was free and on a few days
leave from camp, he started out with his crutch to see the
city, but the thought of her kept him from some of the
places where his feet might have strayed. Yet she had not
said a word of warning. Her smile and the look in her
eyes had placed perfect confidence in him, and he could
remember the prayer she had uttered in a low tone back
there at the dressing station behin/i the trenches in the
ear of a companion who was not going to live to get to the
Base Hospital, and who had begged her to pray with him
before he went. Somehow it lingered with him all day and
changed his ideas of what he wanted to see in New York.

But it was a long hard tramp he had set for himself
to see the town with that one foot. He hadn't much money
for cars, even if he had known which cars to take, so he
hobbled along and saw what he could. He was all alone,
for the fellows he started with went so fast and wanted to
do so many things that he could not do, that he had made
an excuse to shake them off. They were kind. They
would not have left him if they had known ; but he wasn't
going to begin his new life having everybody put out on
his account, so he was alone. And it was toward evening.
He was very tired. It seemed to him that he couldn't go
another block. If only there were a place somewhere where
he could sit down a little while and rest; even a doorstep
would do if there were only one near at hand. Of course,
there were saloons, and there would always be soldiers in
them. He would likely be treated, and there would be good
cheer, and a chance to forget for a little while; but some-
how the thought of that Salvation lassie and the cheery

THE SALVATION ARMY 26^

way she had made him send that telegram kept him back.
When a girl with painted cheeks stopped and smiled in his
face he passed her by, and half wondered why he did it.
He must go somewhere presently and get a bite to eat, but
it couldn't be much for he wanted to save money enough
and hunt up that lodging house where there were nic-e beds.
How much he wanted that bed!

It was quite dark now. The li'ghts were lit everywhere.
He was coming to a great thorou"ghfare. He judged by his
slight knowledge of the city that it might be Broadway.
There would likely be a restaurant somewhere near. He
hurried on ^nd turned into the crowded street. How cold
it was ! The wind cut him like a knife. He had been a
fool to come off alone like this ! Just out of the hospital,
too. Perhaps he would get sick and have to go to another
hospital. He shivered and stopped to pull his collar up
closer around his neck. Then suddenly he stood still and
stared with a dazed, bewildered expression, straight ahead
of him. Was he getting a bit leary ? He passed his hand
over his eyes and looked again. Yes, there it was ! Right
in the midst of the busy, hurrying throng of Union Square I
He made sure it was Union Square, for he looked up at
the street sign to be certain it wasn't Willow Yale — or
Heaven — right there where streets met and crossed, and Qars
and trolleys and trucks whirled, and people passed in
throngs all day, just across the narrow road, stood the
loveliest, most perfect little white clapboard cottage that
ever was built on this earth, with porches all around and
a big tree growing up through the roof of one porch.
It stood out against the night like a wonderful mirage, like
a heavenly dove descended into the turmoil of the pit, like
home and mother in the midst of a rushing pitiless world.
He could have cried real tears of wonder and joy as he

S70 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

stood there, gazing. He felt as though he were one of those
motion pictures in which a lone Klondike! sits by his camp-
fire cooking a can of salmon or baked beans, and up above
him on the screen in one corner appears the Christmas tree
Inhere his wife and baby at home are celebrating and missing
iim. It seemed just as unreal as that to see that little
"beautiful home cottage set down in the midst of the city.

The windows were all lit up with a warm, rosy light and
ihere were curtains at the windows, rosy pink curtains like
the ones they used to have at the house where his girl
lived, long ago before the War spoiled him. He stood and
continued to gaze until a lot of cash-boys, let loose from
the toil of the day, rushed by and almost knocked his
crutch from under him. Then he determined to get nearer
this wonder. Carefully watching his opportunity he hob-
l)led across the street and went slowly around the building.
Yes, it was real. Some public building, of course, but
liow wonderful to have it look so like a home ! Why had
they done it?

Then he came around toward the side, and there in
plain letters was a sign: '^ SOLDIERS AN"D SAILORS
IN UNIFORM WELCOME.'^ What? Was it possible?
Then he might go in? What kind of a place could it be?

He raised his eyes a little and there, slung out above the
neatly shingled porch, like any sign, swung an immense fat
brown doughnut a foot and a half in diameter, with the
sugar apparently still sticking to it, and inside the rough
liole sat a big white coffee cup. His heart leaped up and
something suddenly gave him an idea. He fumbled in his
pocket, brought out a card, saw that this was the Sal-
Tation Army hut, and almost shouted with joy. He lost no
time in hurrying around to the door and stepping inside.

There revealed before him was a great cozy room, with

'"SMILING BILLY
ONE GAME LITTLE GUY

THE SALVATION ARMY 271

many easy-chairs and tables, a piano at which a young
soldier sat playing ragtime, and at the farther end a long
white counter on which shone two bright steaming urns
that sent forth a delicious odor of coffee. Through an
open door behind the counter he caught a glimpse of two
Salvation Army lassies busy with some cups and plates,.
and a third enveloped in a white apron was up to her
elbows in flour, mixing something in a yellow bowl. By
one of the little tables two soldier boys were eating dough«^
nuts and coffee, and at another table a sailor sat writ-
ing a letter. It was all so cozy and homelike that it took
his breath away and he stood there blinking at the lights
that flooded the rooms from graceful white bowl-like globes
that hung suspended from the ceiling by brass chains. He
saw that the rosy light outside had come from soft pink silk
sash curtains that covered the lower part of the windows,
and there were inner draperies of some heavier flowered
material that made the whole thing look real and sub-
stantial. The willow chairs had cushions of the same
flowered stuff. The walls were a soft pearly gray below^
and creamy white above, set off by bands of dark wood,
and a dark floor with rush mats strewn about. He looked
around slowly, taking in every detail almost painfully.
It was such a contrast to the noisy, rushing street, a
contrast to the hospital, and the trenches and all the life
with which he had been familiar during the past few
dreadful months. It made him think of home and mother.
He began to be afraid he was going to cry like a great big
baby, and he looked around nervously for a place to get
out of sight. He saw a fellow going upstairs and at a dis-
tance he followed him. Up there was another bright,,
quiet room, curtained and cushioned like the other, with
more easy wiftow chairs, round willow tables, and desks-

272 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

over by the wall where one might write. The soldier who
had come up ahead of him was already settled writing now
at a desk in the far corner. There were bookcases between
the windows with new beautifully bound books in them, aad
there were magazines scattered around, and no rules that
one must not spit on the floor, or put their feet in the
chairs, or anything of the sort. Only, of course, no one
would ever dream of doing anything like that in such a
place. How beautiful it was, and how quiet and peaceful !
He sank into a chair and looked about him. What rest !

And now there were real tears in his eyes which he has-
tened to brush roughly away, for someone was coming
toward him and a hand was on his shoulder. A man's voice,
kindly, pleasant, brotherly, spoke:

^ All in, are you, my boy ? Well, you just sit and rest
yourself awhile. What do you think of our hut? Good
place to rest? Well, that's what we want it to be to you,
Home. Just drop in here whenever you're in town and
want a place to rest or write, or a bite of something home-
like to eat."

He looked up to the broad shoulders in their well-fitting
dark blue imiform, and into the kindly face of the gray-
haired Colonel of the Salvation Army who happened to
step in for a minute on business and had read the look on
the lonesome boy's face Just in time to give a word of
cheer. He could have thrown his arms around the man's
neck and kissed him if he only hadn't been too shy. But
in spite of the shyness he found himself talking vrith this
fine strong man and telling him some of his disappoint-
ments and perplexities, and when the older man left him
he was strengthened in spirit from the brief conversation.
Somehow it didn't look quite so black a prospect to have
but one foot.

THE SALVATIOM ARMY 273

He read a magazine for a little while and then, drawn
by the delicious odors, he went downstairs and had some
coffee and doughnuts. He saw while he was eating that the
front porch opened out of the big lower room and was all
enclosed in glass and heated with radiators. A lot of fel-
lows were sitting around there in easy-chairs, smoking,
talking, one or two sleeping in their chairs or reading
papers. It had a dim, quiet light, a good place to rest and
think. He was more and more filled with wonder. Wliy
did they do it? Not for money, for they charged hardly
enough to pay for the materials in the food they sold, and
he knew by experience that when one had no money one
could buy of them just the same if one were in need.

Later in the evening he took out the little card again
and looked up the other address. He wanted one of those
clean, sweet beds that he had been hearing about, that one
could get for only a quarter a night, with all the shower-
bath you wanted thrown in. So he went out again and
found his way down to Forty-first Street.

There was something homelike about the very atmos-
phere as he entered the little office room and looked about
him. Beyond, through an open door he could see a great
red brick fireplace with a fire blazing cheerfully and a few
fellows sitting about reading and playing checkers. Every-
body looked as if they felt at home.

When he signed his name in the big register book the
young woman behind the desk who wore an overseas uni-
form glanced at his signature and then looked up as if she
were welcoming an old friend :

^' There's a telegram here for you," she said pleasantly.
" It came last night and we tried to locate you at the camp
but did not succeed. One of our girls went over to camp
18

274 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

this afternoon, but they said you were gone on a furlough,
so we hoped you would turn up."

She handed over the telegram and he took it in won-
der. Who would send him a telgram? And here of all
places ! Why, how would anybody know he would be here ?
He was so excited his crutch trembled under his arm as
he tore open the envelope and read :

*' Dear Billy (It was a regular letter !) :

" I am leaving to-night for New York. Will meet you
at Salvation Hostel day after to-morrow morning. What is
a foot more or less ? Can't I be hands and feet for you the
rest of your life ? I'm proud, proud, proud of you !

Signed " Jean."

He found great tears coming into his eyes and his
throat was full of them, too. It didn't matter if that Sal-
vation Army lassie behind the counter did see them roll
down his cheeks. He didn't care. She would understand
anyway, and he laughed out loud in his joy and relief,
the first joy, the first relief since he was hurt !

Some one else was coming in the door, another fellow
maybe, but the lassie opened a door in the desk and drew
him behind the counter in a shaded comer where no one
would notice and brought him a cup of tea, which she said
was all they had around to eat just then. She didn't pay
any attention to him till he got his equilibrium again.

She was the kind of woman one feels is a natural-born
mother. In fact, the fellows were always asking her wist-
fully : ^^ May we call you Mother ? " Young enough to un-
derstand and enter into their joys and sorrows, yet old
enough to be wise and sweet and true. She mothered every
boy that came.

THE SALVATION ARMY 275

A sailor boy once asked if he might bring his girl to
see her. He said he wanted her to see her so she could
tell his mother about her.

" But can^t you tell her about your girl ? '' she asked.

'' Oh, yes, but I want you to tell her," he said. " You
see, whatever you say mother^ll know is true."

So presently she turned to this lonely boy and took
him upstairs through the pleasant upper room with its
piano and games, its sun parlor over the street, lined with
trailing ferns, with cheery canaries in swinging tasseled
cages, who looked fully as happy and at home as did the
soldier boys who were sitting about comfortably reading.

She found him a room with only one other bunk in it.
Nice white beds with springs like air and mattresses like
down. She showed him where the shower-baths were, and
with a kindly good-night left him. He almost wanted to
ask her to kiss him good-night, so much like his own
mother she seemed.

Before he got into that white bed he knelt beside it,
all clean and comfortable and happy like a little child that
had wandered a long way from home and got back again,
and he told God he was sorry and ashamed for all the way
he had doubted, and sinned, and he wanted to live a new-
life and be good. Then he lay down to sleep. To-
morrow morning Jean would be there. And she didn't
mind about the foot ! She didn't mind ! How wonderful !

And then he had a belated memory of the little Sal-
vation Army lassie on the wharf who had brought all this
about, and he closed his eyes and murmured out loud to the
clean, white walls : ^^ God bless her ! Oh, God bless her ! ''

This is only one of the many stories that might be told
about the boys who have been helped by the various activ-
ities of the Salvation Army, both at home and abroad.

276 THE^WAR ROMANCE OF

It would be well worth one's while to visit their Brook-
lyn Hospital and their New York Hospital and all their
other wonderful institutions. In several of them are many
little children, some mere infants, belonging to soldiers and
sailors away in the war. In some instances the mother is
dead, or haa to work. If she so desires she is given work
in the institution, which is like a real home, and allowed to
be with her child and care for it. Where both mother and
father are dead the child remains for six years or until a
home elsewhere is provided for it. Here the little ones are
well cared for, not in the ordinary sense of an institution,
but as a child would be cared for in a home, with beauty and
love, and pleasure mingling with the food and shelter and
jaiment that is usually supplied in an institution. These
children are prettily, though simply, dressed and not in uni-
form ; with dainty bits of color in hair ribbon, collar, neck-
tie or frock; the babies have wee pink and blue wool caps
and sacks like any beloved little mites, they ride around
on Kiddie Cars, play with doll houses and have a fine Kin-
dergarten teacher to guide their young minds, and the best
of hospital service when they are ailing. But that is another
story, and there are yet many of them. If everybody could
see the beautiful life-size painting of Christ blessing the
little children which is painted right on the very wall and
blended into the tinting, they could better comprehend
the spirit which pervades this lovely home.

The New York Hospital, which has just been rebuilt
and refurnished with all the latest appliances, is in charge
of a devoted woman physician, who has given her life to
healing, and has at the head of its Board one of the most
noted surgeons in the city, who gives his services free, and
boasts that he enjoys it best of all his work. Here those of
small means or of no means at all, especially those belong-

THE SALVATION ARMY 277

ing to soldiers and sailors, may find healing of the wisest
and most expert kind, in cheery, airy, sanitary and beauti-
ful rooms. But here, too, to understand, one must see.
Just a peep into one of those dainty white rooms would
rest a poor sick soul ; just a glance at the room full of tiny
white basket cribs with dainty blue satin-bound blankets —
real wool blankets — and white spreads, would convince one.

And what one sees in New York in the line of such
activities is duplicated in most of the other large cities of
the United States.

iNTot the least of the Salvation Army service for the
returning soldiers is the work that is done on the docks by
the lassies meeting returning troop ships. They send tele-
grams free, not C. 0. D., for them, give the men stamped
postal cards, hunt up relatives, answer questions, and give
them chocolate while they wait for the inevitable roll call
before they can entrain. Often these girls will sit up haK
the night after having met boats nearly all day, to get the
telegrams all off that night. It is interesting to note that
on one single day, April 20th, 1919, the Salvation Army
Headquarters in New York sent 2900 such free telegrams
for returning soldiers.

The other day the father of a soldier came to Head-
quarters with an anxious face, after a certain unit from
overseas had returned. It was the unit in which his boy
had gone to France, but he had written saying he was in
the hospital without stating what was the matter or how
serious his wound. No further word had been received
and the father and mother were frenzied with grief. They
had tried in every way to get information but could find out
nothing. The Salvation Army went to work on the tele-

278 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

phone and in a short time were able to locate the missing
boy in a Casual Company soon to return, and to report to
his anxious father that he was recovering rapidly.

Another soldier arrived in New York and sent a Salva-
tion Army telegram to his father and mother in California
who had previously received notification that he was dead.
A telegram came back to the Salvation Army almost at
once from the West stating this fact and begging some one
to go to the camp where the boy's Casual Company was
located and find out if he were really living. One of the
girls from the office went over to the Debarkation Hospital
immediately and saw the boy, and was able to telegraph
to his parents that he was perfectly recovered and only
awaiting transportation to California. He was overjoyed
to see someone who had heard from his parents.

A portion of one troop ship had been reserved for sol-
diers having influenza. These men were kept on board
long after all the others had left the ship. A Salvation
Army worker seeing them with the white masks over their
faces went on board and served them with chocolate, dis-
tributing post cards and telegraph blanks. When she was
leaving the ship a Captain said to her rather brusquely:
^^ Don't you realize that you have done a foolish thing?
Those men have influenza and your serving them might
mean your death ! "

Looking up into the man's eyes the Salvationist said:
" I am ready to die if God sees fit to call me."

The officer laughed and told her that was the first time
in his life he had known anyone to say they were ready to
die and would willingly expose themselves to such a con-
tagious disease.

THE SALVATION ARMY 279

" Aren't you ready to die ? '' asked the girl. " Certainly
not/'-' replied the Captain. " Sometimes I think I am hardly
fit to live, much less die."

" Don't you realize that there is a Power which can en-
able you to live in such a way as to make you ready to die ? '*

" Oh, well, I don't bother about going to church, in
fact, I don't bother about religion at all, although I must
say once or twice when I was up the line over there I
wished I did know something about religion, that is, the
kind that makes a fellow feel good about dying ; but I don't
want to go to church and go through all that business."

" It is possible to accept Christ here and now on this
very spot — on this ship — if you'll only believe," said the
girl wistfully.

The Captain could not help being interested and
thoughtful. When she left after a little more talk he put
out his hand and said :

" Thank you. You've done me more good than any
sermon could have done me, and believe me, I am going to
pray and trust God to help me live a different life."

Sad things are seen on the docks at times when the ships
come into port, and the boys are coming home.

A soldier in a basket, with both arms and both legs gone
and only one eye, was being carried tenderly along.

"Why do you let him live?" asked one pityingly of
the Commanding Officer.

The gruif, kindly voice replied :

" You don't know what life is. We don't live through
our arms and legs. We live through our hearts."

Some of our boys have learned out there amid shell fire
to live through their hearts.

One of these lying on a litter greeted the lassie from

280 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

Indiana, just come back to New York from France to
meet the boys when they landed :

" HeUo, Sister ! You here ? "

Her eyes filled with tears as she recognized one of her
old friends of the trenches, and noticed how helpless he
was now, he who had been the strongest of the strong. She
murmured sympathetically some words of attempted cheer :

*^ Oh, that^s all right. Sister,^' he said, " I know they got
me pretty hard, but I don^t mind that. I'm not going to
feel bad about it. I got something better than arms and
legs over in one of your little huts in France. I found
Jesus, and I'm going to live for Him. I wanted you to
know.''

A few days later she was talking with another boy just
landed. She asked him how it seemed to be home again, and
to her surprise he turned a sorrowful face to her :

*^ Ifs the greatest disappointment of my life," he said
sadly, " the folks here don't understand. They all want to
make me forget, and I don't want to forget what I learned
out there. I saw life in a different way and I knew I had
wasted all the years. I want to live differently now, and
mother and her friends are just getting up dances and
theatre parties for me to help me to forget. They don't
understand."

Forty miles west of Chicago is Camp Grant and there
the Salvation Army has put up a hut just outside of the
camp.

During the days when the boys were being sent to
France, and were under quarantine, unable to go out, no
one was allowed to come in and there was great distress.
Mothers and sisters and friends could get no opportunity
to see them for farewells.

The Salvation officer in charge suggested to the mill-

THE SALVATION ARMY 281

tary authorities that the Salvation Army hut be the clear-
ing place for relatives, and that he would come in his
machine and bring the boys to the hut, taking them back
again afterwards, that they might have a few hours with
their friends before leaving for France.

This offer was readily accepted by the authorities, and
so it was made possible for hundreds and hundreds of
mothers to get a last talk with their boys before they left,
some of them forever.

One day a young man came to the Salvation Army offi-
cer and told him that his regiment was to depart that night
and that he was in great distress about his wife who on
her way to see him had been caught in a railroad wreck,
and later taken on her way by a rescue train. " I think
she is in Eockf ord somewhere,^' he said anxiously, " but I
don't know where, and I have to leave in three hours ! ''

The Ensign was ready with his help at once. He took
the young soldier in his car to Rockford, seven miles away,
and they went from hotel to hotel seeking in vain for any
trace of the wife. Then suddenly as they were driving
along the street wondering what to try next the young sol-
dier exclaimed : " There she is ! '' And there she was, walk-
ing along the street !

The two had a blessed two hours together before the
soldier had to leave. But it was all in the day's work for
the Salvation Army man, for his main object in life is to
help someone, and he never minds how much he puts him-
self out. It is always reward enough for him to have suc-
ceeded in bringing comfort to another.

One of the Salvation Army Ensigns who was assigned
to work at Camp Grant hut had been an all-round athlete
before he joined the Salvation Army, a boxer and wrestler
of no mean order.

282 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

The fame of the Ensign went abroad and the doctor at
the Base Hospital asked him to take charge of athletics in
the hospital. He was also appointed regularly as chaplain
in the hospital. Every day he drilled the fiye hundred
women nurses in gymnastics, and put the men attendants
and as many of the patients as were able through a set of
exercises. Thus mingling his religion with his athletics
he became a great power among the men in the hospital.

The Salvation Army asked the hospital if there was
anything they could do for the wounded men. The reply
was, that there were eighty wards and not a graphophone in
one of them, nothing to amuse the boys. The need was
promptly filled by the Salvation Army which supplied a
number of graphophones and a piano. Then, discovering
that the nurses who were getting only a very small cash
allowance out of which they had to furnish their uniforms,
were short of shoes, the indefatigable good Samaritan pro-
duced a thousand dollars to buy new shoes for them. The
Salvation Army has always been doing things like that.

The Salvation Army built many huts, locating them
wherever there was need among the camps. They have a
hut at Camp Grant, one at Camp Funston, one at Camp
Travis, San Antonio, one at Camp Logan, Houston, Texas,
one at Camp Bowie, Fort Worth, one at Camp Cody,
Deming, New Mexico, one at Camp Lewis, Tacoma, a
Soldiers' Club at Des Moines, a Soldiers' Club with Sitting
Room, Dining Room, and rooms for a hundred soldiers
just opened at Chicago. There is a charge of twenty-five
cents a night and twenty-five cents a meal for such as have
money. No charge for those who have no money. There
is such a Soldiers' Club at St. Louis, Kansas City, St.
Paul and Minneapolis. All of these places at the camps

THE SALVATION ARMY 283

have accommodations for women relatives to visit the
soldiers, and all of the rooms are always full to the limit.

In Des Moines the Army has an interesting institution
which grew out of a great need.

The Federal authorities have placed a Woman's Pro-
tective Agency in all Camp towns. At Des Moines the
woman representative of the Federal Government sent
word to the Salvation Army that she wished they would
help her. She said she had found so many young girls be-
tween the ages of fourteen and sixteen who were being led
into an immoral life through the soldiers, and she wished
the Salvation Army would open a home to take care of
such girls.

With their usual swiftness to come to the rescue the
Salvation Army opened such a home. The Brigadier up
in Chicago gave up his valued private secretary, a lovely
young girl only twenty-four years old, to be at the head of
this home. It may seem a pretty big undertaking for so
young a girl, but these Salvation Army girls are brought up
to be wonderfully wise and sweet beyond others, and if you
could look into her beautiful eyes you would have an under-
standing of the consecration and strength of character that
has made it possible for her to do this work with marvellous
success, and reach the hearts and turn the lives of these
many young girls who have come under her inifiuence in
this way. In her work she deals with the individual, always
giving immediate relief for any need, always pointing the
way straight and direct to a better life. The young girls
are kept in the home for a week or more until some near
relative can be sent for, or longer, until a home and work
can be found for them. Every case is dealt with on its own
merits ; and many young girls have had their feet set upon
the right road, and a new purpose in life given to them^

284 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

with new ideals, from the young Christian girl whom they
easily love and trust.

So great has been the success of the Salvation Army
hut and women^s hostel at Camp Lewis that the United
States Government has asked the Salvation Army to put up
a hundred thousand dollar hotel at that camp which is
located twenty miles out of Tacoma. The Salvation Army
hut at this place was recently inspected by Secretary of
War Baker and Chief of Staff who highly complimented the
Salvationists on the good work being done.

A Christmas box was sent by the Salvation Army to
each soldier in every camp and hospital throughout the
.West. Each box contained an orange, an apple, two pounds
of nuts, one pound of raisins, one pound of salted peanuts,
one package of figs, two handkerchiefs in sealed packets,
one book of stamps, a package of writing paper, a New
Testament, and a Christmas letter from the Commissioner
at Headquarters in Chicago.

No Officer in the Salvation Army has been more suc-
cessful in ingenious efforts to further all activities con-
nected with the work than Commissioner Estill in command
of the Western forces. He is an indefatigable and tireless
worker, is greatly beloved, and his efforts have met with
exceptional success.

It was a new manager who had taken hold of the affairs
of the Salvation Army Hostel in a certain city that morning
and was establishing family prayers. A visitor, waiting to
see someone, sat in an alcove listening.

There in the long beautiful living-room of the Hostel
sat a little audience, two black women — the cooks — several
women in neat aprons and caps as if they had come in
from their work, a soldier who had been reading the mom-

Thomas Estill
commissioner of the western forces

THE SALVATION ARMY 285

ing paper and who quietly laid it aside when the Bible
reading began, a sailor who tiptoed up the two low steps
from the cafe beyond the living-room where he had been
having his morning coffee and doughnuts — the young clerk
from behind the office desk. They all sat quiet, respectful,
as if accorded a sudden, unexpected privilege.

The reading was a few well-chosen verses about Moses
in the mount of vision and somehow seemed to have a
strange quieting influence and carried a weight of reality
read thus in the beginning of a busy day's work.

The reader closed the book and quite familiarly, not
at all pompously, he said with a pleasant smile that this was
a lesson for all of them. Each one should have his vision
for the day. The cook should have a vision as she made
the doughnuts — ^and he called her by her name — to make
them just as well as they could be made; and the women
who made the beds should have a vision of how they could
make the beds smooth and soft and fine to rest weary
comers ; and those who cleaned must have a vision to make
the house quite pure and sweet so that it would be a home
for the boys who came there ; the clerk at the desk should
have a vision to make the boys comfortable and give them
a welcome ; and everyone should have a vision of how to do
his work in the best way, so that all who came there for a
day or a night or longer should have a vision when they
left that God was ruling in that place and that everything
was being done for His praise.

Just a few simple words bringing the little family
of workers into touch with the Divine and giving them
a glimpse of the great plan of laboring with God where no
work is menial, and nothing too small to be worth doing
for the love of Christ. Then the little company dropped
•upon their knees, and the earnest voice took up a prayer

286 THE WAR ROMANCE

which was more an intimate word with a trusted beloved
Companion; and they all arose to go about that work of
theirs with new zest and — a vision !

In her alcove out of sight the visitor found refresh-
ment for her own soul, and a vision also.

This is the secret of this wonderful work that these
people do in France, in the cities, everywhere; they have
a vision ! They have been upon the Mountain with Grod and
they have not forgotten the injunction:

" See that thou do all things according to the pattern
given thee in the Mount."

But the stories multiply and my space is drawing to a
close. I am minded to say reverently in words of old :

"And there are also many other things which these
disciples of Jesus did, the which if they should be written
every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not
contain the books that should be written ; " but are they not
graven in the hearts of men who found the Christ on the
battlefield or the hospital cot, or in the dim candle-lit hut,
through these dear followers of His?

XII.

lettees of appreciation-.

My deae Miss Booth :

You may be sure that your telegram of November fif-
teenth warmed my heart and brought me very real cheer
and encouragement. It is a message of just the sort that
one needs in these trying times, and I hope that you will
express to your associates my profound appreciation and my
entire confidence in their loyalty, their patriotism, and
their enthusiasm for the great work they are doing.

Cordially and sincerely yours,
Nov. 30, 1917. WooDEOw Wilson.

My deae Miss Booth :

I am very much interested to hear of the campaign the
Salvation Army has undertaken for money to sustain its
war activities, and want to take the opportunity to express
my admiration for the work that it has done and my sin-
cere hope that it may be fully sustained.

(Signed) Woodeow Wilson.

The President of the United States of America.
Commander Evangeline Booth, Paris, 7 April, 1919.

122 W. 14th Street, New York, U. S. A.
I am very much interested to know that the Salvation
Army is about to enter into a campaign for a sustaining fund.
I feel that the Salvation Army needs no commendation
from me. The love and gratitude it has elicited from the
troops is a sufficient evidence of the work it has done and I
feel that I should not so much commend as congratulate it.
Cordially and sincerely yours,

WooDEOW Wilson.

287

288 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

British Delegation, Paris, 8th April, 1919.

Deae Madam:

I have very great pleasure in sending you this letter to

say how highly I think of the great work which has been

done by the Salvation Army amongst the Allied Armies in

France and the other theatres of war. From all sides I

hear the most glowing accounts of the way in which your

people have added to the comfort and welfare of our soldiers.

To me it has always been a great joy to think how much the

sufferings and hardships endured by our troops in all parts

of the world have been lessened by the self-sacrifice and

devotion shown to them by that excellent organization, the

Salvation Army. ^ n -.i^j? n
Yours faithfully,

W. Lloyd Geoege.

Geneeal J. J. Peeshing, Feance.

The Salvation Army of America will never cease to
hail you with devoted affection and admiration for your
valiant leadership of your valiant army. You have rushed
the advent of the world's greatest peace, and all men honor
you. To God be all the glory !

Commander Evangeline Booth.

Commander Evangeline Booth, N*ew York City.

" Many thanks for your cordial cable. The American
Expeditionary Forces thank you for all your noble work
that the Salvation Army has done for them from the
beginning." Geneeal Peeshing.

With deep feeling of gratitude for the enormous con-
tribution which the Salvation Army has made to the moral
and physical welfare of this expedition all ranks join me in
sending heartiest Christmas greetings and cordial best
wishes for the New Year. (Signed) Peeshing.

THE SALVATION ARMY 289

Salvation, New York. Paris, April 22, 1919.

The following cable received, Colonel William S. Barker,
Director of the Salvation Army, Paris: My dear Colonel
Barker — I wish to express to you my sincere appreciation,
and that of all members of the American Expeditionary
Forces, for the splendid services rendered by the Salvation
Army to the American Army in France. Yon first sub-
mitted your plans to me in the summer of 1917, and before
the end of that year you had a number of Huts in operation
in the Training Area of the First Division, and a group of
devoted men and women who laid the foundation for the
affectionate regard in which the workers of your organiza-
tion have always been held by the American soldiers. The
outstanding features of the work of the Salvation Army
have been its disposition to push its activities as far as
possible to the Front, and the trained and experienced
character of its workers whose one thought was the well-
being of its soldiers they came to serve. While the main-
tenance of these standards has necessarily kept your work
within narrow bounds as compared to some of the other
welfare agencies, it has resulted in a degree of excellence
and seK-sacrifice in the work performed which has been
second to none. It has endeared your organization and its
individual men and women workers to all those Divisions
and other units to which they have been attached and has
published their good name to every part of the American
Expeditionary forces. Please accept this letter as a personal
message to each one of your workers. Very sincerely,

John J. Pershing.
Marshal Foch, Paris, France:

Your brilliant armies, under blessing of God, have
triumphed. The Salvation Army of America exults with
war-worn but invincible France. We must consolidate for
God of Peace all the good your valor has secured.

Commander Evangeline Booth.

19

290

THE WAR ROMANCE OF

THE SALVATION ARMY 291

LETTER EEOM SIR DOUGLAS HAIG.

Just before leaving London on Thursday for his pro-
vincial campaigns. General Booth received the following
letter from Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig. The generous
tribute will be read with intense satisfaction by Salva-
tionists the world over :

General Headquarters, British Armies in France.

March 27, 1918.

I am glad to have the opportunity of congratulating the
Salvation Army on the service which its representatives
have rendered during the past year to the British Armies in
France.

The Salvation Army workers have shown themselves to
be of the right sort and I value their presence here as being
one of the best influences on the moral and spiritual wel-
fare of the troops at the bases. The inestimable value of
these influences is realized when the morale of the troops
is afterwards put to the test at the front.

The huts which the Salvation Army has staffed have
besides been an addition to the comfort of the soldiers
which has been greatly appreciated.

I shall be glad if you will convey the thanks of all ranks
of the British Expeditionary Forces in France to the Sal-
vation Army for its continued good work.

D. Haig, Field Marshal,
Commanding British Armies in France.

THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE FROM MARSHAL JOFFRE:

Miss Evangelin-e Booth, Apr. 9, 1919.

New York City.
" President Wilson has said that the work of the Salva-
tion Army on the Franco-American front needs no praise

292 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

in view of the magnificent results obtained and remains only
to be admired and congratulated. I cannot do better than
to use the same words which I am sure express the senti-
ments of all French soldiers. '^ J. Joffre.''

FKOM FIELD MAESHAL VISCOUNT FEENCH.

" Of all the organizations that have come into existence
during the past fifty years none has done finer work or
achieved better results in all parts of the Empire than the
Salvation Army. In particular, its activities have been of
the very greatest benefit to the soldiers in this war.'^

June 16, 1918.

Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, writing from Oyster Bay,
Long Island, under date of April 11, 1918, has the follow-
ing to say to the War Work Executive of the Salvation
Army:

" I was greatly interested in your letter quoting the let-
ter from my son now with Pershing in France. His testi-
mony as to the admirable work done by the Salvation Army
agrees with all my own observations as to what the Salva-
tion Army has done in war and in peace. You have had
to enlarge enormously your program and readjust your
work in order to meet the need of the vast number of sol-
diers and sailors serving our country overseas; and you
must have funds to help you. I am informed that over
40,000 Salvationists are in the ranks of the Allied armies.
I can myself bear testimony to the fact that you have a
practical social service, combined with practical religion,
that appeals to multitudes of men who are not reached by
the regular churches; and I know that you were able to
put your organization to work in France before the end
of the first month of the World War. I am glad to learn

THE SALVATION ARMY 293

that you do not duplicate or parallel the work done by any
other organization, and that you are in constant touch with
the War Work Councils of such organizations as the Y. M.
C. A. and the Eed Cross. I happen to know that you are
now maintaining and operating 168 huts behind the lines
in France, together with 70 hostels, and that you have
furnished 46 ambulances, manned and officered by Sal-
vationists. I am particularly interested to learn that 6000
women are knitting under the direction of the Salvation
Army, and with materials furnished by this organization
here in America, in order to turn out garments and useful
articles for the soldiers at the Front.

*Taithfully yours,

''(Signed) Theodore Eoosevelt.'',-

April 21st, 1919.
Commander Evangeline Booth,
120 West 14th Street, New York, N. Y.

Deae Commander Booth:

I have known the Salvation Army from its beginning.

The mother of the Salvation Army was Mrs. Catherine
Booth, and her common sense and Christian spirit laid the
foundations; while her husband. General William Booth,
in his impressive frame, fertility of ideas, and invincible
spirit of evangelism always seemed to me as if he were
closely related to St. Peter, the fisherman — the man of ideas
and many questions, of the Lord's family.

General William Booth was of a discipleship that kept
him always on the " long, long trail '^ with a self-sacrificing
spirit, but with a cheerfulness that heard the nightingales in
the early mornings that awakened him to duty and service.

294 THE WAE ROMANCE OF

He was never tired. The Salvation Army Tinder the present
leadership of your brother, Bramwell Booth, has " carried
on '' along the same roads, and with the same methods, as
the great General who has passed into the Beyond.

The Salvation Army has been itseli true to the spirit
of its mighty originator during the present war. No work
was too hard ; no day was long enough ; no duty too simple,
no self-denial was too great.

From my personal knowledge, the Salvation Army
workers were consecrated to their work. Just as the brave
boys who carried the Flag, they were soldiers fighting a
battle, to find comforts, and a song to put music into the
hearts of the noble fellows that now lie sleeping on the
ridges of the Marne, with their graves unmarked save
with a cross.

The sleepless vigilance of the Salvation Army extended
from their kitchens where they cooked for the boys, to the
hospitals where they prayed with them to the last hour
when life ended in a silence, the stillest of all slumbers.

The Armies of every country in which they labored
have a record of their faithfulness and devotion which
will be sealed in the hearts of the many thousands they
helped in the days of the struggle for peace.

The question is, what can we do now to perpetuate the

Salvation Army and its work, and my reply is, that there

is nothing they ask or want that should be refused to them.

They are worthy; they are competent; they can be trusted

with responsibility ; and their splendid leader seems to have

almost a miraculous power for management in the work

which her father committed to her so far as America is

concerned.

Very sincerely yours,

(Signed) John Wanamakek.

THE SALVATION ARMY 295

'Cardinal's Residence, 408 Charles Street, Baltimore.

April 16, 1919.
Hon. Charles S. Wh.itman, New York City.
Honorable and Dear Sir :

I have been asked by the local Commander of the Salva-
tion Army to address a word to you as the National Chair-
man of the Campaign about to be launched in behalf of the
above nauned organization. Thi^ I am happy to do, and
for the reason that, along with my fellow American citizens,
I rejoice in the splendid service which the Salvation Army
rendered our Soldier and Sailor Boys during the war. Every
returning trooper is a willing witness to the efficient and
generous work of the Salvation Army both at the Front, and
in the camps, at home. I am also the more happy to com-
mend this organiziation because it is free from sectarian bias.
The man in need of help is the object of their effort, with
never a question of his creed or color.

I trust, therefore, your efforts to raise $13,000,000 for
the Salvation Army will meet with a hearty response from
our generous American public.

Faithfully yours,

James, Cardinal, Gibbons.

Commissioner Plenipotentiary of the United States
of America.

Paris, April 7th, 1919.
My dear Commander Booth :

Those of us who have been fortunate enough to see
something of the work of the Salvation Army with the
American troops have been made proud by the devotion
and self-sacrifice of the workers connected with your
organization.

296 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

I congratulate you and, through you, your associates,
and I wish you the best of fortune in the continuance of
your splendid work.

Very sincerely yours,

L. M. House.
Commander Evangeline Booth, Salvation Army.

Evangeline Booth,

Salvation Army Headquarters, New York.
I have seen the work of the Salvation Army in France
and consider it very helpful and valuable. I trust you will
be able to secure the means not only for its maintenance
but for the enlargement of its scope. It is a good work
and shoiUd be eacouraged. Leonaed Wood.

Oamp Funston, Kansas.

Brigadier- General Duncaii wrote to Colonel Barker the
following letter:

December 7, 1917.
The Salvation Army in this its first experience with
out troops has stepped very closely into the hearts of the
men. Your huts have been open to them at all times.
They have been cordially received in a homelike atmos-
phere and many needs provided in religious teachings.
Your efforts have the honest support of our chaplains. I
have talked with many of our soldiers who are warm in
their praise and satisfaction in what is being done for them.
For myself I feel that the Salvation Army has a real place
for its activities with our Army in France and I offer you
and your workers, men and women, good wishes and thanks
for what you have done and are doing for our men.

G. B. Duncan", Brigadier-General.

THE SALVATION ARMY 297

The Salvation Army is doing a great work in France
and every soldier bears testimony to the fact.

Omar Bundy, Major-General.

Headquarters First Division,
American Expeditionary Forces.

France, September 15, 1918.
From: Chief of Staff.

To: Major L. Allison Coe, Salvation Army.
Subject: Service in Operation against St. Mihiel Salient.

1. The Division Commander desires me to express to
you his appreciation of the particularly valuable service
that the Salvation Army, through you and your assistants,
has rendered the Division during the recent operation
against the St. Mihiel salient.

2. You have furnished aid and comfort to the Ameri-
can soldier throughout the trying experiences of the last
few days, and in accomplishing this worthy mission have
spared yourself in nothing.

3. The Division Commander wishes me to thank you
for the Division and for himseK.

CK/T. Campbell King, Chief of Staff.

CABLEGRAM.

Paris, December 17, 1917.
Commander Miss E. Booth, 120 W. 14th St., JSTew York.

I am glad to be able to express my appreciation of the
work done by the Salvation Army in the way of providing
for the comfort and welfare of the Command. I think the
efforts of the Salvation Army are admirable and deserving
of appreciation and commendation, and I consider the

298 THE WAK ROMANCE OF

effort is made without advertisement and that it reaches
and is appreciated by those for whom it is most needed.
L. P. Murphy, Lieut- Colonel of Cavalry.

CABLEGEAM.

Paris, December 17, 1917.
Commander Miss E. Booth,

120 W. 14th Street, New York City.
I wish to express my most sincere appreciation of the
work of your organization with my regiment. Your Officer
has done everything that could be expected of any organiza-
tion in carrying on his work with the soldiers of this com-
mand, and has surpassed any such expectations. He has
assisted the soldiers in every way possible and has gained
their hearty good will. He has also shown himself willing
and anxious to carry out regulations and orders affecting
his organization. As a matter of fact, all the officers and
soldiers of this command are most enthusiastic about the
help of the Salvation Army, and you can hear nothing but
praise for its work. The work of your organization, both
religious and material, has been wholesome and dignified,
and I desire you to know that it is appreciated.

J. L. HiNES,

Colonel, Sixteenth Infantry.

In sending a contribution toward the expenses of the
War Work, Colonel George B. McClellan wrote :

Treasurer, Salvation Army, July 24, 1918.

120 West 14th Street, ISTew York City.
Deak Sie :

All the Officers I have talked with who have been in the
trenches have enthusiastically praised the work the Sal-

THE SALVATION ARMY 299

vation Army is doing at the front. They are agreed that
for coolness under fire, cheerfulness under the most adverse
conditions, kindness, helpfulness and real efficiency, your
workers are unsurpassed.

Will you accept the enclosed check as my modest con-
tribution to your War Fund, and believe me to be
Yours very truly,
Geo. B. McClellan, Lt.-Col. Ord. Dept., N. A.

CABLEGEAM.

Paris, December 17, 1917.
Commander Miss E. Booth,

120 West 14th Street, New York City, N. Y.
I have carefully observed the work of the Salvation
Army from their first arrival in Training Area First Divi-
sion American Expeditionary Force to date. The work
they have done for the enlisted men of the Division and the
places of amusement and recreation that they have pro-
vided for them, are of the highest order. I unhesitatingly
state that, in my opinion, the Salvation Army has done
more for the enlisted men of the First Division than any
other organization or society operating in France.

F. G. Lawton",
Colonel, Infantry, National Army.

To Whom it May Concern :

The work of the Salvation Army as illustrated by the
work of Major S. H. Atkins is duplicated by no one. He
has been Chaplain and more besides. He has the confidence
of officers and men. Major Atkins, as typifying the Sal-
vation Army, has been forward at the very front with what
is even more important than the rear area work.

Theodore Eoosevelt.

300 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

The following letter was sent to Major Atkins of the
Salvation Army:

Headquarters, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry,

France, December 26, 1917.

I wish to thank you for the great work you have been
doing here among the men of this battalion. You have
added greatly to the happiness and contentment of us all;
giving, as you have, an opportunity for good, clean enter-
tainment and pleasure.

In religious work you have done much. As you know,
this regiment has no chaplain, and you have to a large
extent taken the place of one here.

For myself, and on behalf of the officers stationed here,
I wish to express my appreciation of the work that you
have been doing here, and the hope that you can accom-
pany the battalion w^herever the fortune of war may
lead us.

Wishing you a very happy and successful New Year,

-*■ ^^ Yours sincerely,

(Signed) Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.,
Major (U.S.R.), 26th Infantry.

Wlien Captain Archibald Roosevelt was lying wounded
in Red Cross Hospital No. 1 he wrote the following letter
to the same officer :

Red Cross Hospital No. 1.

July 10, 1918.
'^ You have, by your example, helped the men morally
and physically. By your continued presence in the most
dangerous and uncomfortable periods, you have made your-
self the comrade and friend of every officer and man in
our battalion. It is in this way that you have fiUed a

THE SALVATION ARMY 301

position which the other charitable organizations had left
vacant.

"Let me also mention that^, perfect Democrat that you
are, you have realized the necessity of discipline, and have
helped make the discipline understood by these men and
officers.

" If all the Salvation Army workers are like you, I sin-
cerely hope to see the time when there is a Salvation Army
officer with each battalion in the camp.''

Before leaving France for the United States, two Sal-
vation Army lassies received the following letter:

I was very sorry to hear that you had been taken from
this division, and desire to express my appreciation of the
excellent assistance you have been to us.

In all of our " shows " you have been with us, and I wish
that I knew of the many sufferers you have cheered and
made more comfortable. They are many and, I am posi-
tive, will always have grateful thoughts of you.

I have seen you enduring hardships — going without
food and sleep, working day and night, sometimes under
fire, both shell and avion — and never have you been any-
thing but cheerful and willing.

I thank you and your organization for all of this, and
assure you of the respect and gratitude of the entire

J. I. Mabee^ Colonel, Medical Corps,

Division Surgeon.

CABLE.

The Salvation Amy, New York : ^^'^^^'^ "' '^'^-

As Inspector General of the First Division I have in-
spected aU the Salvation Army huts in this Division area
and I am glad to inform you that your work here is a

302 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

well-earned success. Your huts are warm, dry, light, and,
I believe, much appreciated by all the men in this Division.
To make these huts at all homelike under present condi-
tions requires energy and ability. I know that the Sal-
vation Army men in this Division have it and am very
willing to so testify.

Conrad S. Babcock, Lieut.- Colonel,
Inspector General, First Division.

^^ The Salvation Army keeps open house, and any time
that a body of men come back from the front lines, in from
a convoy, there is hot coffee and sometimes home-made
doughnuts (all free to the men). I was in command of
a town where the hut never closed till 3 or 4 in the morn-
ing, and their girls baked pies and made doughnuts up
to the front, under shell fire, for our infantrymen. A
Salvation Army lassie is safe without an escort anywhere
in France where there is an American soldier. That speaks
for itself. I am for any organization that is out to do
something for my men, and I think that it is the idea
of the American people when they give their money.
What we want is someone who is willing to come over
here and do something for the boys, regardless of the fact
that it may not net any gain — ^in fact, may not help them
to gather enough facts for a lecture tour when they return
home.'^

Headquarters, Third Division,
My dear Mr. Leffingwell : September 5, 1918.

Your letter of July 22d just received. It has, perhaps,
been somewhat delayed in reaching me, owing to the fact
that I have recently been transferred to another division.

I only wish things had been so that I might have
granted you or a representative of the Salvation Army an

THE SALVATION ARMY 303

interview when I was in the States recently, but, being
under orders, I could wait for nothing. Whatever I may
have said, in a casual way, of the work of the Salvation
Army in France, I assure you was all deserved. Your
organization has been doing a splendid work for the men
of my former division and other troops who have come in
contact with it. I have often remarked, as have many of
the officers, that after the war the Salvation Army is going
to receive such a boom from the boys who have come in
touch with it over here that it will seem like a veritable
propaganda ! Why shouldn't it ? For your work has been
conducted in such a quiet, unostentatious, unselfish way
that only a man whose sensibilities are dead can fail to
appreciate it. I have found several of your workers, whose
names at this moment I am unable to recall, putting up
with all sorts of hardships and inconveniences, working
from daylight until well into the night that the boys might
be cheered in one way or another. Your shacks have bXwqjs
been at the disposal of the chaplains for their regimental
services. Whether Mass for the Catholic chaplains or Holy
Communion for an Episcopalian chaplain, they always
found a place to set up their altars in the Salvation Army
huts ; and the Protestant chaplains, also the Jewish, always,
to my knowledge, were given its use for their services. I
have found your own services have been very acceptable to
the boys, in general, but perhaps your doughnut program,
with hot coffee or chocolate, means as much as anything.
Not that, like those of old, we follow the Salvation Army
because we can get filled up, but we all like their spirit.
More than on one occasion do I know of troops moving at
night — and pretty wet and hungry — that have been warmed
and fed and sent on their way with new courage because of
what some Salvation Army worker and hut furnished. And

304 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

as they went their way many fine things were said about
the Salvation Army. I am sure, as a result of this work,
you have won the favor and confidence of hundreds of
these soldier lads, and, if I am not terribly mistaken, when
we get home the Salvation tambourine will receive greater
consideration than heretofore.

I am glad to express my feelings for your work. God
bless you in it, and always !
Sincerely yours,
Lyman Rollins, Division Chaplain,
Headquarters, Third Division, A. E. F., via New York.

At the Front in France, June 12, 1918.
Commissioner Thomas Estill,
Salvation Army, Chicago.
My deae Commissioner :

We are engaged in a great battle. My time is all taken
with our wounded and dead. Still I cannot resist the
temptation to take a few moments in which to express our
appreciation of the splendid aid given our soldiers by the
Salvation Army.

The work of the Salvation Army is not in duplication
of that of any other organization. It is entirely original
and unique. It fills a long-felt want. Some day the world
will know the aid that you have rendered our soldiers.
Then you will receive every dollar you need.

Your work is also greatly appreciated by the French
people. I have never heard a single unfavorable comment
on the Salvation Army. They are respected everywhere.
Their unselfish devotion to our well, sick, wounded and
dead is above any praise that I can bestow. God will surely
greatly reward them.

THE SALVATION ARMY 305

I heartily congratulate you on the class of workers you
have sent over here. I pray that your invaluable aid may
be extended to our troops everywhere. God bless you
and yours, j^ ^^^ ^^^^_

(Signed) Thomas J. Dickson,
Chaplain with rank of Major,
Sixth Field Artillery, First Division, U. S. Army.

An appreciation written concerning the first Salvation
Army chaplain that was appointed after the war started :

Camp Cody, New Mexico,

January 16, 1918.

Major E. C. Clemans,

136th Infantry, Camp Cody, N. M.
Commissioner Thomas Estill, Chicago, 111.

I have been associated with the chaplain now for nearly
four months. I have found him a Christian soldier and
gentleman. He is '^on the job" all the time and no
Chaplain in this Division is doing more faithful and effec-
tive work. He is thoroughly evangelistic, is burdened for
the souls of his men and is working for their salvation not
in but from their sins. He is a " man's man," knows how to
approach men and knows how and does get hold of their
affections in such a way that he is a help and a comfort to
them. He brings things to pass.

The Salvation Army may be well pleased that it is
so well represented in the Army as it is by Chaplain Kline.
Sincerely yours,

(Signed) Ezra C. Clemans,
Senior Chaplain, 34th Division.
20

306 THE WAK ROMANCE OF

July 11, 1918.

I have been familiar with the work of the Salvation
Army for years, and the organization from the beginning
of the war has been doing a wonderful work with the Allied
forces and since the entering of the United States into the
struggle has given splendid aid and cooperation not only
in connection with the war activities at home but also with
our forces abroad. Their work is entitled to the sincere
admiration of every American citizen.

Major Edwin F. Gleitn".
To Whom it Mat Concern :

It gives me the greatest pleasure to testify to the very
excellent work of the Salvation Army as I have seen it in
this division. I have seen the work done by this organiza-
tion for ten months, under all sorts of conditions, and it
has always been of the highest character. At the start,
the Salvation Army was handicapped by lack of funds,
but even under adverse conditions, it did most valuable
work in maintaining cheerful recreation centres for the
men, often in places exposed to hostile shell-fire. The
doughnut and pie supply has been maintained. Tliis seems
a little thing, but it has gone a long way to keep the men
cheerful. All the Salvation Army force has been untiring
in its work under very trying conditions, and as a result,
I believe it has gained the respect and affection of officers
and men more than any similar organization.

Albert J. Myers, Jr., Major, National Army.
1st Div., A. E. F. (Captain, Cavalry, IT. S. A.)

Extract from letter from Captain Charles W. Albright :

Q. M., E. C, France.

"As to the Salvation Army, well, if they wanted our
boys to lie down for them to walk on, to keep their feet from
getting muddy, the boys would gladly do so.

THE SALVATION ARMY 307

'' From everyone, officers and men alike, nothing but the
highest praise is given the Salvation Army. They are right
in the thick of danger, comforting and helping the men in
the front line, heedless of shot, shell or gas, the U. S. Army
in France, as a unit, swears by the Salvation Army.

'^ I am proud to have a sister in their ranks."

An old regular army officer who returned to Paris last
week said :

"I wish every American who has stood on street cor-
ners in America and sneered at the work of the Salvation
Army could see what they are doing for the boys in France.

^^ They do not proclaim that they are here for investi-
gation or for getting atmosphere for War romances. They
have not come to furnish material for Broadway press
agents. They do not wear, * Oh, such becoming uniforms,'
white shoes, dainty blue capes and bonnets, nor do they
frequent Paris tea rooms where the swanky British and
American officers put up.

"Take it from me, these women are doing almighty
fine work. There are twenty- two of them here in France.
We army men have given them shell-shattered and cast-off
field kitchens to work with, and oh, man, the doughnuts,
the pancakes and the pies they turn out !

"I^m an old army officer, but what I like about the
Salvation Army is that it doesn't cater to officers. It is
for the doughboys first, last and all the time. The Salva-
tion Army men do not wear Sam Browne belts; they do
as little handshaking with officers as possible.

" They cash the boys' checks without question, and dur-
ing the month of April in a certain division the Salvation
Army sent home $20,000 for the soldiers. The Rockefeller
Foundation hasn't as yet given the Salvation Army a mil-

308 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

lion-dollar donation to carry on its work. Fact is, I don't
know just how the Salvation Army chaplains and lassies do
get along. But get along they do.

*^ Perhaps some of the boys and officers give them a
lift now and then when the sledding is rough. They don't
aim to make a slight profit as do some other organizations.

" Ever since Cornelius Hickey put up ^ Hickey's Hut/
the first Salvation Army hut in France, they have been
working at a loss. I saw an American officer give a Salva-
tion Army chaplain 500 francs out of his pay at a certain
small town in France recently.

" The work done in ' Hickey's Hut ' did much to endear
the Salvation folks to the doughboys. When a letter arrived
in France some months ago addressed only to ' Hickey's
Hut, France,' it reached its destination toute de suite, forty-
eight hours after it arrived.

" The French climate has hit our boys hard. It is wet
and penetratingly cold. Goes right to the marrow, and
three suits of underwear are no protection against it. When
the lads returned from training camp or the trenches,
wet, cold, hungry and despondent, they found a welcome in
' Hickey's Hut.'

" Not a patronizing, holier-than-thou, we-know-we-are-
doing-a-good-work-and-hope-you-doughboys - appreciate - it
sort of a welcome, but a good old Salvation Army, Bowery
Mission welcome, such as Tim Sullivan knew how to hand
out in the old days.

" Around a warm fire with men who spoke their own
language and who did not pretend to be above them in the
social scale the doughboys forgot that they were four thou-
sand miles from home and that they couldn't ' sling the
lingo.'

" I saw a group of lads on the Montdidier front who
had not been paid in three months, standing cursing their

THE SALVATION ARMY 309

luck. They had no money, therefore, they could not buy
anything.

" The Salvation Army had been apprised by telegraph
that the doughboys were playing in hard luck. Presto!
Out from Paris came a truck loaded with everything to eat.
The truck was unloaded and the boys paid for whatever
they wanted with slips of paper signed with their John
Hancocks. The Salvation Army lassies asked no ques-
tions, but accepted the slips of paper as if they were Uncle
Sam's gold.

^^And one of the most useful institutions in Europe
where war rages is one that has no publicity bureau and has
no horns to toot. This is the Salvation Army. In the
estimation of many, the Salvation Army goes way ahead of
the work of many of the other war organizations working
here. I see brave women and young women of the Salva-
tion Army every day in places that are really hazardous."

First Lieutenant Marion M. Marcus, Jr., Field Artil-
lery, wrote to one of our leading officers :

October 9, 1918.

" If the people at home could see the imtiring and abso-
lute devotion of the workers of the Salvation Army, in
serving and caring for our men, they would more than give
you the support you ask. The way the men and women
expose themselves to the dangers of the front lines and
hardships has more than endeared them to every member
of the American Expeditionary Forces, and they are always
in the right spot with cheer of hot food and drink when it
is most appreciated."

EXTRACT FROM LETTER.

"Away up front where things break hard and rough
for us, and we are hungry and want something hot, we
can usually find it in some old partly destroyed building,

310 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

which has been organized into a shack by — well, guess —
the Salvation Army.

" They are the soldier's friend. They make no display
or show of any kind, but they are fast winning a warm cor-
ner in the heart of everyone.''

" I feel it is my duty to drop you a few lines to let you
know how the boys over here appreciate what the Salvation
Army is doing for them. It is a second home to us. There
is always a cheerful welcome awaiting us there and / have
yet to meet a sour-faced cleric behind the counter. One
Salvation Army worker has his home in a cellar, located
close to the front-line trenches. He cheerfully carries on
his wonderful work amid the flying of shells and in danger
of gas. He is one fine feUow, always greeting you with a
smile. He serves the boys with hot coffee every day, free of
charge, and many times he has divided his own bread with
the tired and hungry boys returning from the trenches. In
the evening he serves coffee and doughnuts at a small price.
Say, who wouldn't be willing to fight after feasting on that ?

^^ In the many rest camps you will find the Salvation
Army girls. They are located so close to the front-line
trenches that they have to wear their gas masks in the slung
position, and they also have their tin hats ready to put on.
The girls certainly are a fine, jolly bunch, and when it
comes to baking pies and doughnuts they are hard to beat.
The boys line up a half hour before time so as to be sure
they get their share. I had the pleasure of talking to a
mother and her daughter and they told me they had sold
out everything they had to the boys with the exception of
some salmon and sardines on which they were living — sal-
mon for dinner and sardines for supper. They stood it all
with big smiles and those smiles made me smile when I
thought of my troubles.

jTHE SALVATION ARMY 311

" In the trenches the boys become affected with body lice,
known as cooties. A good hot bath is the only real cure
for them. While on the way to a bath-house a Salvation
Army worker overtook us. He was riding in a Ford which
had seen better days. The springs on it were about all in
and it made a noise like someone calling for mercy. The
Salvation Army worker pulled up in front of us and with a
broad smile on his face said : " Room for half a ton ! '^ We
did not need a second invitation and we soon had poor
Henry loaded down. I thought sure it would give out, but
the worker only laughed about it and kept on feeding the
machine more gas as we cheered until it started away
with us.

" I want to tell you what the Salvation Army does for
the moral side of the soldier. The American soldier needs
the guidance of God over here more than he ever did in his
whole life. Away from home and in a foreign land in every
corner, one must have Divine guidance to keep him on the
narrow path of life. If it was not for the workers of God
over here the hoys would gradually hreak away and then
Fm afraid we would not have the right kind of fighters to
hold up our end. Of course, prayers alone won't satisfy
the appetite of the American soldier, and the Salvation
Army girls get around that by baking for the boys. They
believe in satisfying the cravings of the stomach as well as
the craving of the soul and mind. I always enjoy the ser-
mons at the Salvation Army. A good, every-day sermon
is always appreciated. The Salvation Army helps you along
in their good old way, and they don't believe in preaching
all day on what you should do and what you shouldn't do.
The girls are a fine bunch of singers and their singing is
enjoyed very much by all of the boys. It is a treat to see
an American girl so close to the front and a still better treat
to listen to one sing.

$n THE WAK ROMANCE OF

" The Salvation Army does much good work in keeping
the boys in the right spirit so that they are glad to go back to
the trenches when their turn comes. There is no Salvation
Army hut on this front. I often wish there was one on
every front. I believe the Salvation Army does not get its
full credit over in the States. Perhaps the people over
there do not understand the full meaning of the work it is
doing over here. I want the Salvation Army to know that
it has all of the boys over here back of it and we want to keep
up the good work. We will go through hell, if necessary,
because we know the folks back home are back of us. We
want the Salvation Army to feel the same way. The hoys
over here are really back of it and we want you to continue
your good work/'

" There is just one thing more I wish to speak of, and
that is the little old Salvation Army. You will never see
me, nor any of the other boys over here, laugh at their street
services in the future, and if I see anyone else doing that
little thing that person is due for a busted head ! I haven't
seen where they are raising a tenth the money some of the
other societies are, but they are the topnotchers of them all
as the soldiers' friend, and their handouts always come at
the right time. Some of those girls work as hard as we do.''

" The Salvation Army over here is doing wonderful
work. They haven't any shows or music, hut they certainly
know what pleases the hoys most, and feed us with home-
made apple pie or crullers, with lemonade — a great big piece
of pie or three crullers, with a large cup of lemonade, for a
franc (18% cents).

'^ These people are working like beavers, and the people
in the States ought to give them plenty of credit and appre-
ciate their wonderful help to the men over here."

THE SALVATION AEMY 313

'' We were in a bomb-proof semi-dugout, in the heart of
a dense forest, within range of enemy guns, my Hebrew
comrade and I. We were talking of the fate that brought
us here — of the conditions as we left them at home. There
was the thought of what ^ might' happen if we were to
return to America minus a limb or an eye; we were dis-
cussing the great economic and moral reform which is a
certainty after the war, when through the air came the
harmonious strumming of a guitar accompanying a sweet,
feminine voice, and we heard :

Lead, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom;

Lead Thou me on;
The night ia dark and I am far from home,

Lead Thou me on.
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to Bee

The distant scene —
One step enough for me.

''It was the Salvation Army! In a desert of human
hearts, many of them wounded with heartache, these brave,
brave servants of the Son of David came to cheer us up
and make life more bearable.

'' In our outfit are Greeks, Italians, Bohemians, Irish,
Jews — all of them loyal Americans — and the Salvation
Army serves each with an impartial self-sacrifice which
should forever still the voices of critics who condemn send-
ing Army lassies over here.

"Those in the ranks are men. The Salvation Army
women are admired — almost worshipped — but respected and
safe. Men by the thousands would lay down their lives for
the Salvationists, and not till after the war will the fuU
results of this sacrifice by Salvation Army workers bear
fruit. But now, with so many strong temptations to go the
wrong way, here are noble girls roughing it, smiling at the

314 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

hardships, singing songs, making doughnuts for the dough-
boys, and always reminding us, even in danger, that it is
not all of ' life to live,' bringing to us recollections of our
mothers, sisters, and sweethearts, and if anyone questions,
* Is it worth while ? ' the answer is : ^ A thousand times
yes ! ' and I cannot refrain from sending my hearty thanks
for all this service means to us.

" A few miles in back of us now, a half dozen Connecti-
eut girls representing the Salvation Army are doing their bit
to make things brighter for us, and say, maybe those girls
eannot bake. Every day they furnish us with real home-
made crullers and pies at a small cost, and their coffee,
holy smoke ! it makes me homesick to even write about it.
The girls have their headquarters in an old tumble-down
building and they must have some nerve, for the Boche
keeps dropping shells all around them day and night, and
it would only take one of those shells to blow the whole
outfit into kingdom come.''

In a letter from a private to his mother while he was
lying wounded in the hospital, he says of the Salvation
Army and Red Cross:

" Most emphatically let me say that they both are giving
real service to the men here and both are worthy of any
praise or help that can be given them. This is especially
so of the Salvation Army, because it is not fully under-
stood just what they are doing over here. They are the
only ones that, regardless of shells or gas, feed the boys in
the trenches and bear home to them the realization of what
God really is at the very moment when our brave lads are
facing death. Their timely phrases about the Christ,
handed out with their doughnuts and coffee, have turned
many faltering souls back to the path and they will never

THE SALVATION ARMY 315

forget it ' Man's extremity is God's opportunity ' surely
holds good here. You may not realize or think it possible,
but a large majority of the boys carry Bibles and there are
often heated arguments over the different phrases.

" I have just turned my pockets inside out and the tam-
bourine could hold no more, but it was all I had and I
am still in debt to the Salvation Army.

'^ For hot coffee and cookies when I was shivering like
an aspen, for buttons and patches on my tattered uniform,
for steering me clear of the camp followers ; but more than
all for the cheery words of solace for those ' gone West,' for
the blessed face of a woman from the homeland in the midst
of withering blight and desolation — for these I am in-
debted to the Salvation Army."

CABLEGRAM.

Commander Miss E. Booth, ^^^'^^^ December 17, 1917.
120 W. 14th Street, New York, N. Y.
Being a Private, I am one of the many thousands who
enjoy the kindnesses and thoughtful recreation in the Sal-
vation hut. The huts are always crowded when the boys
are off duty, for 'tis there we find warmth of body and com-
radeship, pleasures in games and music, delight in the
palatable refreshments, knowledge in reading periodicals,
convenience in the writing material at our disposal, and
other home-like touches for enjoyment. The courtesy and
good-will of the hut workers, combined with these good
things, makes the huts a resort of real comfort with the
big thought of salvation in Christ predominating over all.
Appreciation of these huts, and all they mean to the soldier
in this terrible war, rises full in all our hearts.

Clinton Spencer,
Private, Motor Action.

316 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

" I just used to love to listen to the Salvation Army at
6tli and Penn Streets, but I never dreamed of seeing them,
over here. And when I first saw four girls cooking and
baking all day I wondered what it was all about.

'' But I didn't have long to find out, for that night I saw
these same girls put on their gas masks at the alert and
start for the trenches. Then I started to ask about them.
I never spoke to the girls, but fellows who had been in
the trenches told me that they came up under shell fire to
give the boys pies or doughnuts or little cakes or cocoa or
whatever they had made that day. I thought that great of
the Salvation Army. And many a boy who got help
through them has a warm spot in his heart for them.

" You can see by the paper I write on who gave it to us.
It is Salvation Army paper. Altogether I say give three
hearty cheers for the Salvation Army and the girls who
risk their own lives to give our boys a little treat."

** I am going to crow about our real friends here — and it
is the verdict of all the boys — ^it is the Salvation Army,
Joe. That is the boys' mother and father here. It is our
home. They have a treat for us boys every night — ^that is,
cookies, doughnuts or pie — about 9 o'clock. But that is
only a little of them. The big thing is the spirit — the feel-
ing a boy gets of being home when he enters the hut and
meets the lassies and lads who call themselves the soldiers
of Christ, and we are proud to call them brother soldiers.
We think the world of them ! So, Joe, whenever you get a
chance to do the Salvation Army a good turn, by word or
deed, do so, as thereby you will help us. When we get back
we are going to be the Salvation Army's big friend, and
you will see it become one of the United States' great
organizations."

THE SALVATION ARMY 317

" My life as a soldier is not quite as easy as it was in
Eochest-er, but still I am not going to give up my religion,
and I am not ashamed to let the other fellows know that I
belong to the Salvation Army. Sometimes they try to get
me to smoke or go and have a glass of beer with them, but
I tell them that I am a Salvationist. There are twenty
fellows in a hut, so they used to make fun at me when I
used to say my prayers. Once in awhile I used to have a
pair of shoes or a coat or something thrown at me. I used
to think what I could do to stop them throwing things at
me, go I thought of a plan and waited. It was two or three
nights before they threw anything again. One night, as I
was saying my prayers, someone threw his shoes at me.
After I got through I picked up the shoes and took out my
shoe brushes and polished and cleaned the shoes thrown at
me, and from that night to now I have never had a thing
thrown at me. The fellow came to me in a little while
and said he was sorry he had thrown them. There are four
or five Salvationists in our company — one was a Captain
in the States. The Salvation Army has three big huts here
among the soldier boys. We have some nice meetings here,
and they have reading-rooms and writing and lunch-rooms,
80 I spend most of my time there.'^

LETTER OF COMMENDATION- RE SALVATION ARMY.

TJ. S. S. Point Bonita, 15 October, 1918.
Miss Evangeline Booth, Commander,
Care of Salvation Army Headquarters,
14th Street, New York City.
Dear Miss Booth: —

We want to thank you for presenting our crew with an
elegant phonograph and 25 records. We are all going to
take up a collection and buy a lot of records and I guess we
will be able to pass the time away when we are not on watch.

318 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

We have a few men in the crew who have made trips
across on transports and they say that every soldier and
sailor has praised the Salvation Army way-up-to-the-sky
for all the many kindnesses shown them.

We also want to thank you for the kindness shown to
one of our crew. The Major who gave us the present was
the best yet and so was the gentleman who drove the auto
about ten miles to our ship. That is the Salation Army
all over. During the war or in times of peace, your organi-
zation reaches the hearts of all.

We all would like to thank Mr. IjefRngwell for his great
kindness in helping U5.

The imdersigned all have the warmest sort of feeling
for you and the Salvation x\rmy.

Many, many thanks, from the ship's crew.

" I was down to the Salvation Army the other day help-
ing them cook doughnuts and they sure did taste good, and
the fellows fairly go crazy to get them, too. Anything that
is homemade don't last long around here, and when they get
candy or anything sweet there is a line about a block long.

" Notice the paper this is written on ? Well, I can't say
enough about them. They sure are a treat to us boys, and
almost every night they have good eats for us. One night
it is lemonade, pies and coffee, and the next it is doughnuts
and coffee, and they are just like mother makes. There
are two girls here that run the place, and they are real
American girls, too. The first I have seen since I have
been in France, and I'll say they are a treat !

'' Hogan and I have been helping them, and now I cook
pies and doughnuts as well as anyone. We sure do have
a picnic with them and enjoy helping out once in awhile.
One thing I want you to do is to help the Salvation Army
all you can and whenever you get a chance to lend a help-

THE SALVATION ARMY 319

ing hand to them do it, for they sure have done a whole lot
for your boy, and if you can get them a write-up in the
papers, why do it and I will be happy/'

I FROM LORD DERBY.

" The splendid work which the Salvation Army has done
among the soldiers during the war is one for which I, as
Secretary of State for War, should like to thank them most
sincerely ; it is a work which is deserving of all support/'

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT

TRENTON .

My dear Mr. Battle : December 27, 1917.

I have learned of the campaign of the Salvation Army
to raise money for its war activities. The work of the Sal-
vation Army is at all times commendable and deserving, but
particularly so in its relation to the war.

I sincerely hope that the campaign will be very
successful. Cordially yours,

(Signed) Walter R Edge,
Mr. George Gordon Battle, Governor.

General Chairman, 37 Wall Street, New York City.

governor CHARLES S. WHITMAN'S ADDRESS AT LUNCHEON
AT HOTEL TEN EYCK, ALBANY^ NEW YORK^ DECEMBER
8, 1917.

" I take especial pleasure in offering my tribute of re-
spect and appreciation to the Salvation Army. I have
known of its work as intimately as any man who is not
directly connected with the organization. In my position
as a judge and a district attorney of New York City for
many years, I always found the Salvation Army a great help
in solving the various problems of the poor, the criminal
and distressed.

320 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

" Frequently while other agencies, though good, hesi-
tated, there was never a case where there was a possibility
that relief might be brought — never was a case of misery
or violence so low, that the Salvation Army would not
undertake it.

" The Salvation Army lends its manhood and woman-
hood to go ^ Over There ' from our States, and our State,
to labor with those who fight and die. There is very little
we can do, but we can help with our funds."

"The Salvation Army is worthy of the support of all
right-thinking people. Its main purpose is to reclaim men
and women to decency and good citizenship. This pur-
pose is being prosecuted not only with energy and enthu-
siasm but with rare tact and judgment.

"The sphere of the Army's operations has now been
extended to the battlefields of Europe, where its conse-
crated workers will cooperate with the Y. M. C. A., K. of C,
and kindred organizations.

"It gives me pleasure to commend the work of this
beneficent organization, and to urge our people to remem-
ber its splendid service to humanity.

" Very truly yours,

"Albert E. Sleeper,

" Governor."

Endorsement of January 25, 1918.

Governor Hugh M. Dorsey, of Georgia.

The Salvation Army has been a potent force for good
everywhere, so far as I know. They are rendering to our
soldiers " somewhere in France " the most invaluable aid,
ministering not only to their spiritual needs, but caring
for them in a material way. This they have done without
the blare of trumpets.

THE SALVATION ARMY 321

Many commanding officers certify to the fact that the
Salvation Army is not only rendering most effective work,
but that this work is of a distinctive character and of a
nature not covered by the activities of other organizations
ministering to the needs of the soldier boys. In other
words, they are filling that gap in the army life which they
have always so well filled in the civil life of our people.

STATE OF UTAH
EXECUTIVE OFFICE

Salt Lake City, January 21, 1918.
"I have learned with a great deal of interest of the
splendid work being done by the Salvation Army for the
moral uplift of the soldiers, both in the training camps
and in the field. I am very glad to endorse this work and
to express the hope that the Salvation Army may find a
way to continue and extend its work among the soldiers."

(Signed) Simon Bamberg,
Governor.

FROM a proclamation BY GOVERNOR BRUMBAUGH.

To the People of Pennsylvania:

I have long since learned to believe in the great, good
work of the Salvation Army and have given it my approval
and support through the years. This mighty body of con-
secrated workers are like gleaners in the fields of humanity.
They seek and succor and save those that most need and
least receive aid.

Now, Therefore, I, Martin G. Brumbaugh, Gov-
ernor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, do cordially
commend the work of the Salvation Army and call upon
our people to give earnest heed to their call for assistance,
making liberal donations to their praiseworthy work and
manifesting thus our continued and resolute purpose to
give our men in arms unstinted aid and to support gladly

21

322 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

all these noble and sacrificing agencies that under God
give hope and help to our soldiers.

Given under my hand and the great
seal of the State, at the City of
Harrisburg, this seventh day of
[seal] February, in the year of our Lord

one thousand nine hundred and
eighteen, and of the Common-
wealth the one hundred and forty-
By the Governor: second.

Secretary of the Commonwealth,
copy/h

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts,

Executive Department,
State House, Boston, February 15, 1918.
It gives me pleasure to add my word of approval to the
very noble work that is being done by the Salvation Army
for the men now serving the country. The Salvation
Army has for many years been doing very valuable work,
and the extension of its labors into the ranks of the sol-
diers has not lessened in any degree its power of accom-
plishment. The Salvation Army can render most efficient
service. It should be the aim of every one of us in Massa-
chusetts to assist in every way the work that is being done
for the soldiers. We cannot do too much of this kind of
work for them — they deserve and need it all. I urge every-
body in Massachusetts to assist the Salvation Army in
every way possible, to the end that Massachusetts may
maintain her place in the forefront of the States of the
Union who are assisting the work of the Army.

(Signed) Samuel W. McCall,

Governor.

THE SALVATION ARMY 323

PEOCLAMATION".

To the People of the State of Maryland :

I have been very much impressed with the good work
which is being done in this country by the Salvation Army,
and I am not at all surprised at the great work which it is
doing at the front, upon or near the battlefields of Europe.
It is doing not only the same kind of work being done by
the Y. M. C. A. and the Knights of Columbus, but work in
fields decidedly their own.

It is now undertaking to raise $1,000,000 for the
National War Service and it is preparing a hutment
equipped with libraries, daily newspapers, games, light re-
freshments, etc., in every camp in France.

Now, Therefore, I, Emerson C. Harrington, Gov-
ernor of Maryland, believing that the effect and purposes
for which the Salvation Army is asking this money, are
deserving of our warmest support, do hereby call upon the
people of Maryland to respond as liberally as they can in
this war drive being made by the Salvation Army to enable
them more efficiently to render service which is so much
needed.

In Testimony Whereof, I have here-
unto set my hand and caused to
be hereto affixed the Great Seal
of Maryland at Annapolis, Mary-
land, this fourteenth day of Feb-
ruary, in the year one thousand
(The Great Seal nine hundred and eighteen.

of the State of

Maryland) Emerson C. Harrington.

By the Governor,

Thos. W. Simmons, Secretary of State.

324 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

" The Salvation Army is peculiarly equipped for this
kind of service. I have watched the career of this organ-
ization for many years, and I know its leaders to be devoted
and capable men and women.

" Of course, any agency which can in any way ameliorate
the condition of the boys at the front should receive
encouragement.'^

(Signed) Feank C. Lowden,
Governor of Illinois/

" I join with thousands of my fellow citizens in having a
great admiration for the splendid work which has already
been accomplished by the Salvation Army in the allevia-
tion of suffering, the spiritual uplift of the masses, and its
substantial and prayerful ministrations.

" The Salvation Army does its work quietly, carefully,
persistently and effectively. Our patriotic citizenry will
quickly place the stamp of approval upon the great work
being done by the Salvation Army among the private sol-
diers at home and abroad.^'

(Signed) Governor Bbough of Arkansas.

Lansing, Michigan, June 13, 1918.
To Whom it May Conceen :

Among the various organizations doing war work in
connection with the American Army, none are found more
worthy of support than the Salvation Army.

Entering into its work with the whole-hearted zeal
which has characterized its movement in times of peace, it
has won the highest praise of both officers and soldiers alike.

THE SALVATION ARMY 325

It is an essential pleasure to commend the work of the
Salvation Army to the people of Michigan with the urgent
request that its war activities be given your generous
support.

Albert E. Sleeper^
Governor of the State of Michigan.

Mark E. McKee,
Secretary, Counties Division, Michigan War Board.

state of KANSAS

ARTHUR CAPPER, GOVERNOR,

TOPEKA

August 8, 1917.

I have been greatly pleased with the war activities of
the Salvation Army and want to express my appreciation
of the splendid service rendered by that organization on
the battlefield of Europe ever since the war began. It is
a most commendable and a most patriotic thing to do and
I hope the people of Kansas will give the enterprise their
generous support.

Very respectfully,
(Signed) Arthur Capper, Governor.

*^ Best wishes for the success of your work. As the Sal-
vation Army has done so much good in time of peace, it
has multiplied opportunities to do good in the horrors of
war, if given the necessary means/'

(Signed) Miles Poindexter,
Senator from Washington.

S«6 THE WAR ROMANCE OF^

HOUSE OF EEPRESENTATIVES
WASHINGTON, D. C.

January 8, 1918.
Coloiiel Adam Gifford, Salvation Army,
8 East Brookline Street, Boston, Mass.

My dear Colonel Giffoed:

I desire to write yon in highest commendation of the
work the Salvation Army is doing in France. During last
November I was behind the French and English fronts,
and unless one has been there they cannot realize the assist-
ance to spirit and courage given to the soldiers by the
** hut '' service of the Salvation Army.

The only particular in which the Salvation Army fell
short was that there were not sufficient huts for the de-
mands of the troops. The huts I saw were crowded and
not commodious.

Behind the British front I heard several officers state
that the service of the Salvation Army was somewhat dif-
ferent from other services of the same kind, but most
effective.

With kindest regards, I remain.

Very sincerely yours,

(Signed) Geobge Holden Tinkham,

Congressman.

This Condolence Card conveyed the sympathy of the
Commander to the friends of the fallen. Forethought had
prepared this some time before the first American had made
the supreme sacrifice.

THE SALVATION ARMY

327

GBEAT6R LOVE HATH NO MAH THAN THiS THAT

__ , _ , 122}/^. I4ih Street New York

Cm.y dear Friend:

I must on behalf of The Sahation Army, lake this oppor-
tunity to 5a\f how deeply and trul^ ire share your grief at this
time of your bereavement. It will be hard for you to under-
stand how anything can soothe the pain made by your great
loss, but let me point ^ou to the one fesus Christ, who ac-
quainted Himself with all our griefs so that He might heal
the heart's wounds made b^ our sorrows and whose love for
us was so Vast that He bled and died to save us.

It may be some solace to think that your loved one
poured out his life in a War in which high and holy principles
are involved, and also that he was quick 'o answer the call
for men

Relieve me lohen I say that' we are pray-
ing and roill pray for you.

Yours in sympathy.

" COMMANDEK EVAN-QELINE BoOTH I

'' The comfort and solace contained in the beautiful card
of sympathy I recently received from you is more than you
can ever know. With all my heart I am very grateful to
you and can only assure you feebly of my deep appreciation.

"It has made me realize more than ever before the
fundamental principles of Christianity upon which your
Army is built and organized, for how truly does it comfort
the widow and fatherless in their affliction.

" Tucked away as my two babies and I are in a tiny
"Wisconsin town, we felt that our grief, while shared in by
our good friends, was just a passing emotion to the rest of
the world. But when a card such as yours comes, extend-
ing a heart of sympathy and prayer and ferrets us out in
our sorrow in our little town, you must know how much

328 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

less lonely we are because of it. It surely shows us that a
sacrifice such as my dear husband made is acknowledged
and lauded by the entire world.

" I am, oh ! so proud of him, so comforted to know I was
wife to a man so imbued with the principles of right and
justice that he counted no sacrifice, not even his life, too
great to offer in the cause. Not for anything would I ask
him back or rob him of the glory of such a death. Yet our
little home is sad indeed, with its light and life taken away.

^^ The good you have done before and during the war must
be a very great source of gratification for you, and I trust
you may be spared for many years to stretch out your
helping hand to the sorrowing and make us better for hav-
ing known you. ^^^j^ ^^^^^^^ gratitude,''

" Commander Evangeline Booth :

" I have Just seen your picture in the November Pictorial
Review and I do so greatly admire your splendid character
and the great work you are doing.

" I want to thank you for the message of Christian love
and sympathy you sent to me upon the death of my son in
July, aeroplane accident in England.

'' Without the Christian's faith and the blessed hope of
the Gospel we would despair indeed. A long time ago I
learned to pray Thy will be done for my son — and I have
tested the promises and I have found them true.

" May the Lord bless you abundantly in your own heart
and in your world wide influence and the splendid Salva-
tion Army."

** Dear Friends :

" Words fall far short in expressing our deep apprecia-
tion of your comforting words of condolence and sym-
pathy. Will you accept as a small token of love the enclosed

THE SALVATION ARMY 329

appreciation written by Professor of the Oberlin

College, and a quotation from a letter written August 25th
by our soldier boy, and found among his effects to be opened
only in case of his death, and forwarded to his mother?
I am Yours truly,''

Enclosure :

"November 16, 1918.

" If by any chance this letter should be given to you, as
something coming directly from my heart; you, who are
my mother, need have no fear or regret for the personality
destined not to come back to you.

" A mother and father, whose noble ideals they firmly
fixed in two sons should rather experience a deep sense of
pride that the young chap of nearly twenty-one years does
not come back to them ; for, though he was fond of living,
he was also prepared to die with a faith as sound and stead-
fast as that of the little children whom the Master took in
His arms.

" And more than that, the body you gave to me so sweet
and pure and strong, though misused at times, has been
returned to God as pure and undefiled as when you gave it
to me. I think there is nothing that should please you
more than that.

" In My Father's House are many mansions,
I go to prepare a place for you ;
If it were not so, I would have told you.
" Your Baby boy,"
Chatereaux, France. (Signed) Paul.

August, 1918.

N. B. — Written on back of the envelope :
" To be opened only in 2ase of accident."

330 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

" Commander Evangeline Booth :

"Permit me to express through you my deep appreciation
of the consoling message from the Salvation Army on the
loss of my brother, Clement, in France. I am indeed grate-
ful for this last thought from an organization which did
so much to meet his living needs and to lessen the hard-
ships of his service in France. I shall always feel a per-
sonal debt to those of you who seemed so near to him at
the end/^

"Miss Evangeline Booth:

*' I was greatly touched by the card of sympathy sent me
in your name on the occasion of my great sorrow — and my
equally great glory. The death of a husband for the great
cause of humanity is a martyrdom that any soldier^s wife,
even in her deep grief, is proud to share.

" Thanking you for your helpful message,'^

"Miss Evangeline Booth:

" Of the many cards of condolence received by our family
upon the death of my dear brother, none touched us more
deeply than the one sent by you.

" We do indeed appreciate your thoughtfulness in send-
ing words of comfort to people who are utter strangers
to you.

"Accept again, the gratitude of my parents as well as the
other members of our family, including myself.

"Miay our Heavenly Father bless you all and glorify
your good works."

THE SALVATION ARMY 331

Miss Evangeline Booth,

Commander of the Salvation Army, New York City,
N. Y.
Dear Miss Booth :

I beg of you to pardon me for writing you this letter,
but I feel that I must. On the 17th day of March I
received, a letter from my boy in Frfance, and it reads as
follows :

*' Somewhere in France, Jan. 15, 1918.
'^ My Dear Mother :

^' I must write you a few lines to tell you that you must
not worry about me even though it is some time since I
wrote you. We don't have much time to ourselves out here.
I have just come out of the trenches, and now it is mud,
mud, mud, up to one's knees. I often think of the fireplace
at home these cold nights, but, mother, I must tell you
that I don't know what we boys would do if it was not for
the Salvation Army. The women, they are just like mothers
to the boys. God help the ones that say anything but good
about the Army ! Those women certainly have courage, to
come right out in the trenches with coffee and cocoa, etc.,
and they are so kind and good. Mother, I want you to
write to Miss Booth and thank her for me for her splendid
work out here. When I come home I shall exchange the
U. S. uniform for the S. A. uniform, and I know, ma,
that you will not object. Well, the Germans have been
raining shells to-day, but we were unharmed. I passed
by an old shack of a building — a poor woman sat there
with a baby, lulling it to sleep, when a shell came down and
the poor souls had passed from this earthly hell to their
heavenly reward. Only God knows the conditions out here ;

332 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

it is horrible. Well, I must close now, and don't worry,
mother, I will be home some day.

^^ Your loving son,''

Well, Miss Booth, I got word three weeks ago that
Joseph had been killed in action. I am heart-broken, but
I suppose it was God's will. Poor boy! He has his uni-
form exchanged for a white robe. I am all alone now, as he
was my only boy and only child. Again I beg of you to
pardon me for sending you this letter.

December 10, 1917.
Commander Evangeline C. Booth, New York City.
My dear Commander :

I have just read in the New York papers of your pur-
pose and plan to raise a million dollars for your Salvation
Army work carried on in the interests of the soldiers at
home and abroad, and I cannot refrain from writing to
you to express my deep interest, and also the hope that you
may be successful in raising this fund, because I know that
it will be so well administered.

From all that I have heard of the Salvation Army
work in connection with the soldiers carried on under your
direction, I think it is simply wonderful, and if there is
any service that I can render you or the Army, I should
be exceedingly pleased.

I have read ^^ Souls in Khaki," and I wish that every-
one might read it, for could they do so, your milLLon-doUar
fund would be easily raised.

With ever-increasing interest in the Salvation Army,
I am, Cordially yours,

(Signed) J. Wilbur Chapman.
Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church in the U. S. A.

THE SALVATION ARMY 333

SALVATION AEMY IS THE MOST POPULAR ORGANIZATION
IN FRANCE.

Eaymond B. Fosdick, chainnan of the War Eecreation
Commission, on his return from a tour of investigation into
activities of the relief organizations in France, gave out
the following :

" Somewhat to my surprise I found the Salvation Army
probably the most popular organization in France with
the troops. It has not undertaken the comprehensive pro-
gram wliich the Y. M. C. A. has laid out for itself; that
is, it is operating in three or four divisions, while the Y. M.
C. A. is aiming to cover every unit of troops.

" But its simple, homely, unadorned service seems to have
touched the hearts of our men. The aim of the organiza-
tion is, if possible, to put a worker and his wife in a canteen
or a centre. The women spend their time making dough-
nuts and pies, and sew on buttons. The men make them-
selves generally useful in any way which their service
can be applied.

"I saw such placed in dugouts way up at the front,
where the German shells screamed over our heads with a
Bound not unlike a freight train crossing a bridge. Down
in their dugouts the Salvation Army folks imperturbably
handed out doughnuts and dished out the ' drink.' *'

War Department
Commission on Training Camp Activities, Washington

45, Avenue Montaigne, Paris.
Commander Evangeline Booth, Apr. 8, 1919.

Salvation Army, New York City.

My dear Commander Booth :

The work of the Salvation Army with the armed forces
of the United States does not need any word of commen-

334 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

dation from me. Perhaps I may be permitted to say, how-
ever, that as a representative of the War and Navy Depart-
ments I have been closely in touch with it from its inception,
both in Europe and in the United States. I do not believe
there is a doughboy anywhere who does not speak of it with
enthusiasm and affection. Its remarkable success has been
due solely to the unselfish spirit of service which has under-
lain it. Nothing has been too humble or too lowly for the
Salvation Army representative to do for the soldier. With-
out ostentation, without advertising, without any emphasis
upon auspices or organization, your people have met the
men of the Army as friends and companions-in-arms, and
the soldiers, particularly those of the American Expedition-
ary Force, will never forget what you have done.
Faithfully yours,

(Signed) Raymond B. Fosdick.

From Honorable Arthur Stanley,
Chairman British Eed Cross Society.

BRITISH RED CROSS SOCIETY
JOINT WAR COMMITTEE

83 Pall Mall, London, S. W.,
December 32, 1917.
General Bramwell Booth.
Dear General Booth :

I enclose formal receipt for the cheque, value £2000,
which was handed to me by your representative. I note
that it is a contribution from the Salvation Army to the
Joint Funds to provide a new Salvation Army Motor Am-
bulance Unit on the same conditions as before.

I cannot sufficiently thank you and the Salvation Army
for this veiy generous donation.

THE SALVATION ARMY 335

I am indeed glad to know that you are providing an-
other twenty drivers for service with our Ambulance Fleet
in France. This is most welcome news, as whenever Sal-
vation Army men are helping we hear nothing but good
reports of their work. Sir Ernest Clarke tells me that your
Ambulance Sections are quite the best of any in our ser-
vice, and the more Salvation Army men you can send him,
the better he will be pleased. I would again take this
opportunity of congratulating you, which I do with all
my heart, upon the splendid record of your Army.

Yours sincerely,

(Signed) Arthur Stanley.

Extract from Judge Ben Lindsey^s picture of the Sal-
vation Army at the Front :

^^ A good expression for American enthusiasm is : ' I am
crazy about ' — this, or that, or the other thing that excites
our admiration. Well, ^I am crazy about the Salvation
Army' — the Salvation Army as I saw it and mingled
with it and the doughboys in the trenches. And when I
happened to be passing through Chicago to-day and saw an
appeal in the Tribune for the Salvation Army, I remem-
bered what our boys so often shouted out to me as I passed
them in the trenches and back of the lines : ' Judge, when
you get back home tell the folks not to forget the Salvation
Army. They're the real thing.'

" And I know they are the real thing. I have shared
with the boys the doughnuts and chocolate and coffee that
seemed to be so much better than any other doughnuts or
coffee or chocolate I have ever tasted before. And when it
seemed so wonderful to me after just a mild sort of experi-
ence down a shell-swept road, through the damp and cold of

336 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

a French winter day, what must it be to those boys after
trench raids or red-hot scraps down rain-soaked trenches
under the wet mists of No Man's Land? . . . Listen
to some of the stories the boys told me : ^ You see. Judge,
the good old Salvation Army is the real thing. They
don't put on no airs. There ain't no flub-dub about them
and you don't see their mugs in the fancy magazines much.
•Why, you never would see one of them in Paris around the
hotels. You'd never know they existed, Judge, unless you
came right up here to the front lines as near as the Colonel
will let you ! '

"And one enthusiastic urchin said : ^ Why, Judge, after
the battle yesterday, we couldn't get those women out of
the village till they'd seen every fellow had at least a dozen
fried cakes and all the coffee or chocolate he could pile in.
We just had to drag 'em out — for the boys love 'em too
much to lose 'em — we weren't going to take no chances —
not much — for our Salvation ladies ! ' '^

HAERY LAUDER'S ENDORSEMENT.

In speaking of the Salvation Armfs work before the
Rotary Club of San Francisco, Harry Lauder said:

" There is no organization in Europe doing more for the
troops than the Salvation Army, and the devotion of its
officers has caused the Salvation Army to be revered by
the soldiers."

Mr. Otto Kahn, one of America's most prominent
bankers, upon his return to this country after a tour
through the American lines in France, writes, among
other things :

" I should particularly consider myself remiss if I did
not refer with sincere admiration to the devoted, sympa-

THE SALVATION ARMY 337

thetic, and most efficient work of the Salvation Army,
which, though limited in its activities to a few sectors only,
has won the warm and affectionate regard of those of our
troops with whom it has been in contact/^

Mr. David Lawrence, special Washington coiTespond-
ent of the New Yorh Evening Post and other influential
papers, in an article in which he comments on the work of
all the relief agencies, says of the Salvation Army in
France :

" Curiously enough the Salvation Army is spoken of in
all official reports as the organization most popular with
the troops. Its organization is the smallest of all four.
Its service is simple and unadorned. It specializes on
doughnuts and pie, which it gives away free whenever the
ingredients of the manufacture of those articles are at hand.

'' The policy of the organization is to place a worker and
his wife, if possible, with a unit of troops. The woman
makes doughnuts and sews on buttons, while the man helps
the soldiers in any way he can.

"^ The success of the Salvation Army is attributed by
commanding officers to the fact that the workers know
how to mix naturally. In other cases there had been
sometimes an air of condescension not unlike that of the
professional settlement house worker."

In a recent issue of the Saturday Evening Post, Mr.
Irvin Cobb, who has just returned from France, has this
to say of the Salvation Army :

" Eight here seems a good-enough place for me to slip
in a few words of approbation for the work which another
organization has accomplished in France since we put our
men into the field. Nobody asked me to speak in its favot

22

338 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

because, so far as I can find out, it has no publicity depart-
ment. I am referring to the Salvation Army. May it live
forever for the service which, without price and without
any boasting on the part of its personnel, it is rendering
to our boys in France !

^^A good many of us who hadn't enough religion, and a
good many more of us who, mayhap, had too much religion,
looked rather contemptuously upon the methods of the Sal-
vationists. Some have gone so far as to intimate that the
Salvation Army was vulgar in its methods and lacking in
dignity and even in reverence. Some have intimated that
converting a sinner to the tap of a bass drum or the tinkle
of a tambourine was an improper process altogether. Never
again, though, shall I hear the blare of the comet as it cuts
into the chorus of hallelujah whoops, where a ring of blue-
bonneted women and blue-capped men stand exhorting on
a city street-corner under the gaslights, without recalling
what some of their enrolled brethren. — and sisters — ^have
done, and are doing, in Europe !

" The American Salvation Army in France is small, but,
believe me, it is powerfully busy ! Its war delegation came
over without any fanfare of the trumpets of publicity. It
has no paid press agents here and no impressive headquar-
ters. There are no well-known names, other than the
names of its executive heads, on its rosters or on its
advisory boards. None of its members are housed at an
expensive hotel and none of them have handsome auto-
mobiles in which to travel about from place to place.
No campaigns to raise nation-wide millions of dollars for
the cost of its ministrations overseas were ever held at
home. I imagine it is the pennies of the poor that mainly
fill its war chest. I imagine, too, that sometimes its finan-
ces are an uncertain quantity. Incidentally, I am assured

THE SALVATION ARMY S39

that not one of its male workers here is of draft age unless
he holds exemption papers to prove his physical nnfitnesa
for military service. The Salvationists are taking care to
purge themselves of any suspicion that potential slackers
have joined their ranks in order to avoid the possibility of
having to perform duties in khaki.

"Among officers, as vrell as among enlisted men, one occa-
sionally hears criticism — ^which may or may not be based
on a fair judgment — ^for certain branches of certain activi-
ties of certain organizations. But I have yet to meet any
soldier, whether a brigadier or a private, w^o, if he spoke
at all of the Salvation Army, did not speak in terms of
fervent gratitude for the aid that the Salvationists are ren-
dering so unostentatiously and yet so very effectively. Let
a sizable body of troops move from one station to another,
and hard on its heels there came a squad of men and women
of the Salvation Army. An army truck may bring them,
or it may be they have a battered jitney to move them and
their scanty outfits. Usually they do not ask for help from
anyone in reaching their destinations. They find lodgment
in a wrecked shell of a house or in the corner of a barn.
By main force and awkwardness they set up their equipment,
and very soon the word has spread among the troops that
at such and such a place the Salvation Army is serving
free hot drinks and free doughnuts and free pies. It spe-
cializes in doughnuts — the Salvation Army in the field does
— ^the real old-fashioned home-made ones that taste of home
to a homesick soldier boy !

" I did not see this, but one of my associates did. He ©aw
it last winter in a dismal place on the Toul sector. A file
of our troops were finishing a long hike through rain and
snow over roads knee-deep, in half-thawed icy slush. Cold
and wet and miserable they came tramping into a cheerless.

340 THE WAE ROMANCE OF

half-empty town within sound and range of the German
guns. They found a reception committee awaiting them
there — in the person of two Salvation Army lassies and a
Salvation Army Captain. The women had a fire going in
the dilapidated oven of a vanished villager's kitchen. One
of them was rolling out the batter on a plank, with an old
wine-bottle for a rolling pin, and using the top of a tin can
to cut the dough into circular strips ; the other woman was
cooking the doughnuts, and as fast as they were cooked the
man served them out, spitting hot, to hungry, wet boys
clamoring about the door, and nobody was asked to pay a
cent!

'At the risk of giving mortal affront to ultradoctrinal
practitioners of applied theology, I am firmly committed to
the belief that by the grace and the grease of those dough-
nuts those three humble benefactors that day strengthened
their right to a place in the Heavenly Kingdom.^'

My Deab Colonel Jenkins :

I take pleasure in sending you a copy of my report
as Commissioner to France, in which I made reference
to the work of the Salvation Army with our American
Expeditionary Forces.

I cannot recall ever hearing the slightest criticism of
the work of the Salvation Army, but I heard many words
of enthusiastic appreciation on the part not only of the
Generals and officers but of the soldiers.

I saw many evidences showing that the unselfish,
sometimes reckless, abandon of your workers had a great
effect upon our men.

I am sure that the Salvation Army also stands in high
respect for its religious influence upon the men.

It was pleasant still further to hear such words of ap-

THE SALVATION ARMY 341

preciation as I did from General Duncan regarding the
work of Chaplain Allan, the divisional chaplain of Gen-
eral Duncan's unit. He has evidently risen to his work
in a splendid way. It is a pleasure to have this oppor-
tunity of rendering this testimony to you.
Faithfully yours,

Charles S. MacFarland,
General Secretary.

The New Yorh Globe printed the following:

HUNS don't stop SALVATION ARMY. MEETING HELD IN

DEEP DUGOUT UNDER RUINED VILLAGE — MANDOLIN

SUPPLANTS THE ORGAN.

By Herbert Corey.

Just Behind the Somme Front, May 31. — Some-
where in the tangle of smashed walls there was a steely
jingle. At first the sound was hard to identify, so odd are
acoustics in this which was once a little town. There were
stub ends of walls here and there — bare, raw snags of walls
sticking up — and now and then a rooftree tilted patheti-
cally against a ruin, or a pile of dusty masonry that had
been a house. A little path ran through this tangle, and
under an arched gateway that by a miracle remained stand-
ing and down the steps of a dugout. The jingling sound
became recognizable. Some one was trying to play on a
mandolin :

" Jesus, Lover of My Soul.^^

It was grotesque and laughable. The grand old hymn
refused its cadences to this instrument of a tune-loving
bourgeoise. It seemed to stand aloof and unconquered.
This is a hymn for the swelling notes of an organ or for the
great harmonies of a choir. It was not made to be debased

342 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

by association with this caterwauling wood and wire, this
sounding board for barbershop chords, this accomplice of
sick lovers leaning on village fences. Then there came a
voice :

" By goUies, brother, you're getting it ! I actually be-
lieve you're getting it, brother. We'll have a swell meeting
to-night."

I went down the steps into the Salvation Army man's
dugout. A large soldier, cigarette depending from his
lower lip, unshaven, tin hat tipped on the back of his head,
was picking away at the wires of the mandolin with fingers
that seemed as thick and yellow as ears of corn. As I came
in he stated profanely, that these dam' things were not
made to pick out condemn' hymn tunes on. The Salvation
Army man encouraged him :

" You keep on, brother," said he, " and we'll have a fine
meeting for the Brigadier when he comes in to-night."

TAKING HIS CHANCES.

Another boy was sitting there, his head rather low. The
mandolin player indicated him with a jerk. " He got all
roughed up last night," said he. " We found a bottle of
some sweet stuff these Frogs left in the house where we're
billeted. Tasted a good deal like syrup. But it sure put
BuU out."

Bull turned a pair of inflamed eyes on the musician.

" You keep on a-talkin', and I'll hang somep'n on your
eye," said Bull, hoarsely.

Then he replaced his head in his hands. The Salva-
tion Army man laughed at the interlude and then returned
to the player.

" See," said he, '' it goes like this " He hummed

the wonderful old hymn.

THE SALVATION ARMY 343

The floor of the dugout was covered with straw. The
stairs which led to it were wide, so that at certain hours the
sun shone in and dried out the walls. There were few slugs
crawling sKmily on the walls of the Salvation Army's
place. Rats were there, of course, and bugs of sorts, but
few slugs. On the whole it was considered a good dugout,
because of these things. The roof was not a strong one, it
seemed to me. A 77-shell would go through it like a knife
through cheese. I said so to the Salvation Army man.

" Aw, brother,^' said he. " We've got to take our chances
along with the rest."

At the foot of the stairs was a table on which were the
few things the Salvation Army man had to seU, up here
under the guns. There were some figs and a handful of
black licorice drops and a few nuts. Boys kept coming in
and demanding cookies. Cookies there were none, but
there was hope ahead. If the Brigadier managed to get in
to-night with the fliv, there might be cookies.

NO MONEY, BUT GOOD CHEER.

*'Just our luck,'' said some morose doughboy, "if a
shell hit the fliv. It's a hell of a road "

" No shell has hit it yet, brother," said the Salvation
Army man, cheerily.

Fifteen doUars would have bought everything he had
in stock. One could have carried away the whole stock in
the pockets of an army overcoat. The Salvation Army has
no money, you know. It is hard to buy supplies for can-
teens over here, unless a pocket filled with money is doing
the buying. The Salvation Army must pick up its stuff
where it can get it. Yesterday there had been sardines and
shaving soap and tin watches. To-day there were only
figs and licorice drops and nuts.

344 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

*' But if the Brigadier gets in/' said the Salvation Army
man, "there will be something sweet to eat. And we'll
have a little meeting of song and praise, brother — just to
thank God for the chance he has given us to help."

Here there is no one else to serve the boys. Other
organizations have more money and more men, but for some
reason they have not seen fit to come to this which was once
a town. Shells fall into it from six directions all day and
all night long. Now and then it is gassed. A few kilo-
metres away is the German line. One reaches town over
a road which is nightly torn to pieces by high explosives.
No one comes here voluntarily, and no one stays willingly —
except the Salvation Army man. He's here for keeps.

Men come down into his little dugout to play checkers
and dominoes and buy sweet things to eat. He is here to
help them spiritually as well as physically and they know
it, and yet they do not hear him. He talks to them just
as they talk to each other, except that he does not swear
and he does not tell stories that have too much of a tang.
He never obtrudes his religion on them. Just once in a
while — on the nights the Brigadier gets in — there is a little
song and praise meeting. They thank God for the chance
they have to help.

That night the Brigadier got in with his cookies and
chocolates and his message that salvation is free. Per-
haps a dozen men sat around uncomfortably in the little
dugout and listened to him. The man of the mandolin
had refused at the last moment. He said he would be
dam' if he could play a hymn tune on that thing. But the
old hymn quavered cheerily out of the little dugout into
the shell-torn night. The husky voices of the Brigadier
and the Ensign and Holy Joe carried it on, while the little
audience sat mute.

THE SALVATION ARMY 345

While the nearer waters roll,
While the tempest still is high.

Then there was a little prayer and a few straight,
cordial words from the Brigadier and then, somewhere in
that perilous night outside, " taps '^ sounded and the men
were off to bed. They had no word of thanks as they shook
hands on parting. They did not speak to each other as they
picked their way along the path through the ruins. But
when they reached the street some one said very profanely
and very earnestly :

" I can lick any man's son who says they ain't all
right.^^

" I have just received your letter of the 30th of July, and
it has cheered my heart to know you take an interest in a
poor Belgian prisoner of war.

'' Since I wrote to you last we have been changed to an-
other camp ; the one we are now in is quite a nice camp, with
lots of flowers, and we are allowed more freedom, but it is
very bad regarding food. We have so very little to eat, it is a
pity we can't eat flowers ! We rise up hungry and go to bed
hungry, and all day long we are trying to still the craving
for food. So you will understand the longing there is in
our hearts to once again be free — to be able to go to work
and earn our daily bread ! But the one great comfort that
I find is since I learned to know Jesus as my Saviour and
Friend I can better endure the trials and even rejoice that
I am called to suffer for His sake, and while around me I
see many who are in despair — some even cursing God for
all the misery in which we are surrounded, some trying to
be brave, some giving up altogether — yet to a number of us
has come the Gospel message, brought by the Salvation
Army, and I am so glad that I, for one, listened and sur-

346 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

rendered my life to this Jesus ! Now I have real peace, and
He walks with me and gives me grace to conquer the evil.

" When I lived in Belgium I was very worldly and sinful
— I lived for pleasure and drink and sin. I did not then
know of One who said, * Come unto Me, all ye that labor
and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.' I did not
know anything about living a Christian life, but now it is
all changed and I am so thankful! Salvation Army offi-
cers visit us and bring words of cheer and blessing and
comfort. You will be glad to know that I have applied to
our Commissioner to become a Salvation Army officer when
the war is over. I want to go to my poor little stricken
country and tell my people of this wonderful Saviour that
can save from all sin !

" On behalf of my comrades and myseK, I want to thank

the American nation for all they have done, and are still

doing, for my people. May God bless you all for it, and

may He grant that before long there will be peace on earth 1

" I remain, faithfully yours,

" Remy Meersman/'

SALVATION AEMY.

A copy of the " Stars and Stripes," the official publica-
tion of the American Expeditionary Forces published in
France by the American soldiers themselves, just received
in Chicago, contains the following:

" Perhaps in the old days when war and your home town
seemed as far apart as Paris, France, and Paris, 111., you
were a superior person who used to snicker when you passed
a street corner where a small Salvation Army band was
holding forth. Perhaps — Heaven forgive you — you even

THE SALVATION ARMY S47

sneered a little when yon heard the bespectacled sister in
the poke-bonnet bang her tambourine and raise a shrill
voice to the strains of ' Oh death, where is thy sting-a-
ling/ Probably — unless you yourself had known the bit-
terness of one who finds himself alone, hungry and home-
less in a big city — you did not know much about the Sal-
vation Army.

Well, we are all homeless over here and every Ameri-
can soldier will take back with him a new affection and a
new respect for the Salvation Army. Many will carry with
them the memories of a cheering word and a friendly cruller
received in one of the huts nearest of all to the trenches.
There the old slogan of ' Soup and Salvation ' has given
way to ^Pies and Piety. It might be 'Doughnuts and
Doughboys.' These huts pitched within the shock of the
German guns, are ramshackle and bare and few, for no
organization can grow rich on the pennies and nickels that
are tossed into the tambourines at the street-corners of the
world. But they are doing a work that the soldiers them-
selves will never forget, and it is an especial pleasure to
say so here, because the Salvation Army, being much too
simple and old-fashioned to know the uses of advertisement,
have never asked us to. You, however, can testify for them.
Perhaps you do in your letters home. And surely when
you are back there and you pass once more a 'meeting'
at the curb, you will not snicker. You will tarry awhile —
and take off your hat.''

We have received a letter from Mr. Lewis Strauss, Sec-
retary to Mr. Herbert Hoover, who has just returned from
France, and he says that Mr. Hoover's time while in
Europe was spent almost wholly in London and Paris, and
that he had no opportunity for observing our War Eelief

348 THE WAR ROMANCE

Work at the front. The concluding paragraph of the let-
ter, however, is as follows :

" Mr. Hoover has frequently heard the most compli-
mentary reports of the invaluable work which your organ-
ization is performing in invariably the most perilous locali-
ties, and he is filled with admiration for those who are
conducting it at the front."

THE CHICAGO TBIBUNE (MAY 17, 1918), QUOTING FEOM THE
ABOVE, ALSO SPEAKS EDITOKIALLY.

The acid test of any service done for our soldiers in
France is the value the men themselves place upon it. No
matter how excellent our intentions, we cannot be satisfied
with the result if the soldiers are not satisfied. Without
suggesting any invidious distinctions among organizations
that are working at the front, it is nevertheless a pleasure
to record that the Salvation Army stands very high in the
regard of American soldiers.

The evidence of the Salvation Army's excellent work
comes from many sources.

APPENDIX.

A FEW FACTS ABOUT THE SALVATION AKMY.

It has been truly said that within four days after the
German Army entered Belgium, another Army entered
also — the Salvation Army ! One came to destroy, the other
to relieve distress and minister to the wonnded and dying.

The British Salvation Army furnished a number of
Bed Cross Ambulances, manned by Salvationists when the
Ked Cross was in great need of such. When these arrived
in France and people first saw the big cars with the " Sal-
vation Army " label it attracted a good deal of attention.
The drivers wore the Eed Cross uniform, and were under
its military rules, but wore on their caps the red band with
the words, ** Salvation Army.'^

There is a story of a young officer in sportive mood
who left a group of his companions and stepped out into
the street to stop one of these ambulances :

" Hello ! Salvation Army ! " he cried. '' Are you tak-
ing those men to heaven ? "

Amid the derisive laughter of the officers on the side-
walk the Salvationist replied pleasantly:

" I cannot say I am taking them to heaven, but I cer-
tainly am taking them away from the other place.''

One of the good British Salvationists wrote of meeting
our American boys in England. He said :

"Oh, these American soldiers! One meets them in
twos and threes, all over the city, everlastingly asking ques-
tions, by word of mouth and by wide-open trustful eyes,
and they make a bee-line for the Salvation Army uniform

S49

SoO THE W.VR RO^LAACE OF

on sight. I passed a company of them on the march across
London, from one nvilroiui station to another, the other
day. They wen? obviously interested in the sights of the
city stxeets as tliov passed through at noon, but as tliey
drew nearer one of the bo\*s caught sight of the red band
aromid my cap iunong the hat^ crowning the sidewiUk
crowd. My ! but that one man's interest swept over the
hundred odd men ! Like the flame of a prairie fire, it went
with a zip ! They all knew at once ! They had no eyes
for the crowd any more: thoy did not stare at the fat^^ide
of the railway terminus wliicli they were passing; they
saw nothing of the famous *' London Stone ' set in the wall
behind its grid on tlieir right hand. \Miat thoy Siiw was
a Salvation Army man in all his familiar war-paint, and it
was a sight for sore eyes ! Here was sometJiing they could
understand! This Wiis an American institution, a tried,
proved and necessary part of the life of any community.
All this and much more those wide-open eyes told me. It
was as good to them a>i if I was stuck all over with stars
and stripes. I belonged — that's it — belonged to them, and
so they took off the veil and showed their hearts and
smiled tlieir good glad greeting.

** So I smiled and that first file of four beamed seraphic.
Two at least were of Scandinavian stock, but how should
tliat make any difference ? Again and again I noticed their
counterpart in the column which followed. ... It was
all the same: file upon file those faces spread out in eager
particular greeting: those eyes, one and all, sought mine
expecting the smile I so gladly gave. And then when tlie
last was past and I gazed upon their swaying forms from
the rear I wondered why my eyes were moist and some-
thing had gone wrong with my swallowing apparatus. Great
bovs ! Bonny bovs ! ' *

THE SALVATION ARMY 351

The Salvation Army was founded July 5, 18G5, as a
ChriHtian Mission in East London by the Reverend Wil-
liam Booth, and its first Headquarters opened in White-
chapel Road, LK^ndon. Three years later work was begun
in Scotland.

In 1877 the name of the Christian Mission was altered
to the Salvation Army, and the Reverend William Booth
assumed the title of General.

December 29, 1879, the first number of the olTicial
organ, " The War Cry," was issued and the first brass band
formed at Consett.

In 1880 the first Training School was opened at Hack-
ney, London, and the first contingent of the Salvation
Army officers landed in the United States. The next year
the Salvation Army entered Australia, and was extended
to France. 1882 saw Switzerland, Sweden, India and
Canada receiving their first contingent of Salvation Army
officers. A London Orphan Asylum was acquired and con-
verted into Congress Hall, which, with its large Audito-
rium, with a seating capacity of five thousand, still remains
the Mammoth International Training School for Salvation
Army officers, for missionary and home fields aJl over the
world. The first Prison-Gate Home was opened in Lon-
don in this same year.

The Army commenced in South Africa, New Zealand
and Iceland in 1883.

In 1886 work was begun in Germany and the late Gen-
eral visited France, the United States and Canada. The
First International Congress was held in London in that
year.

The British Slum work was inaugurated in 1887, and
Officers sent to Italy, Holland, Denmark, Zululand, and
among the Kaffirs and Hottentots. The next year the

352 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

Army extended to Norway, Argentine Eepublic, Finland
and Belgium, and the next ten years saw work extended in
succession to Uruguay, West Indies, Java, Japan, British
Guiana, Panama and Korea, and work commenced among
the Lepers.

The growing confidence of the great of the earth was
manifested by the honors that were conferred upon Gen-
eral Booth from time to time. In 1898 he opened the
American Senate with prayer. In 1904 King Edward re-
ceived him at Buckingham Palace, the freedom of the City
of London and the City of Kirkcaldy were conferred upon
him, as well as the degree of D. C. L. by Oxford, during
1905. The Kings of Denmark, Norway, the Queen of
Sweden, and the Emperor of Japan were among those who
received him in private audience.

On August 20, 1912, General William Booth laid down
his sword.

He lay in state in Congress Hall, London, where the
number of visitors who looked upon his remains ran into
the hundreds of thousands.

His son, William Bramwell Booth, the Chief of the
Staff, by the appointment of the late General, succeeded to
the office and came to the position with a wealth of affection
and confidence on the part of the people of the nations
such as few men know.

SALVATION ARMY WAR ACTIVITIES.

77 Motor ambulances manned by Salvationists.
87 Hotels for use of Soldiers and Sailors.
107 Buildings in United States placed at disposal

of Government for war relief purposes.
199 Huts at Soldiers' Camps used for religious
and social gatherings and for dispensing
comfort to Soldiers and Sailors.

THE SALVATION AEMY 353

300 Eest-rooms equipped with, papers, magazines,
books, etc., in charge of Salvation Army
Officers.
1507 Salvation Army officers devote their entire
time to religious and social work among
Soldiers and Sailors.
15,000 Beds in hotels close to railway stations and
landing points at seaport cities for protec-
tion of Soldiers and Sailors going to and
from the Front.
80,000 Salvation Army officers fighting with Allied
Armies.
100,000 Parcels of food and clothing distributed among

Soldiers and Sailors.
100,000 Wounded Soldiers taken from battlefields in

Salvation Army ambulances.
300,000 Soldiers and Sailors daily attend Salvation
Army buildings.
$2,000,000 Already spent in war activities.

45 Chaplains serving under Government appoint-
ment.
40 Camps, Forts and Navy Yards at which Sal-
vation Army services are conducted or which
are visited by Salvation Army officers.
2184 War Widows assisted (legal and other aid,

and visited).
2404 Soldiers' wives cared for (including medical
help).
442 War children under our care.
3378 Soldiers' remittances forwarded (without
charge).
$196,081.05 Amount remitted.

600 Parcels supplied Prisoners of War.

23

354 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

1500 Cables sent for Soldiers.
276 OflBcers detailed to assist Soldiexe' wivee and
relatives; number assisted, 276.
40 Military hospitals visited.
360 Persons visiting hospitals.
147 Boats met.
324,052 Men on board.
35,845 Telegrams sent.

24 Salvationists detailed for this work.
20 Salvationists detailed for this work outside of
New York City.

SAi;7ATI01!r AEMY WORK IN UNITED STATES OF AMBBICA.

1218 Buildings in use at present.
2953 Missing friends found.
6125 Tons of ice distributed.
12,000 Officers and non-commissioned officers ac-
tively employed.
11,650 Accommodations in institutions.
68,000 Children cared for in Rescue Homes and Slum

Settlements.
22,161 Women and girls cared for in Rescue Homes.
30,401 Tons of coal distributed.
175,764 Men cared for in Industrial Homes.
342,639 Poor families visited.
899,418 Outings given poor people.
668,250 Converted to Christian life.
984,426 Jobs found for unemployed poor.
1,535,840 Hours spent in active service in slum dis-
tricts.
6,900,995 Poor people given temporary relief.
40,522,990 Nights' shelter and beds given to needy poor.

THE SALVATION ARMY 355

52,674,308 Meals supplied to needy poor.

Constituency reached with appeal for Ohm-
tian citizenship.
133,608,087 Out-door meeting attendance.
134,418,564 In-door meeting attendance.

NATIONAL WAR BOARD.

Commander Evangeline C. Booth, President.

EAST. WEST.

Peart, Col. William, Chair- Estill, Commissioner Thos.,

man. Chairman.

Keinhardsen, Col. Gustavo Gauntlett, Col. Sidney,

S., Sec'y and Treas. Brewer, Lt.-Col. Arthur T.,

Damon, Col. Alexander M., Eynn, Lt.-Col. John T.,

Parker, Col. Edward J., Dart, Brigadier Wm. J.,

Jenkins, Lt.-Col. Walter P., Sec'y.
Stanyon, Lt.-Col. Thomas,
Welte, Brigadier Charles

FRANCE.

Barker, Lt.-Col. William S., Director of War Work.

As indicated in the above list, the National War Board
functions in two distinct territories — East and West — the
duty of each being to administer all War Work in the re-
spective territories. The closest supervision is given hj
each War Board over all expenditure of money and no
scheme is sanctioned until the judgment of the Board ifi
carried concerning the usefulness of the project and the
sound financial proposals associated therewith. After any
plan is initiated, the Board is still responsible for the
supervision of the work, and for the Eastern department
Colonel Edward J. Parker is the Board's representative in

356 THE WAR ROMANCE

all such matters and Lieut-Colonel Arthur T. Brewer fills
a similar ofiSce in the Western department. Each section
of the National Board takes responsibility in connection
with the overseas work, under the presidency of Com-
mander Evangeline C. Booth for the raising, equipping
and sending of thoroughly suitable people in proper pro-
portion. Joint councils are occasionally necessary, when it
is customary for proper representatives of each section of
the Board to meet together.

The National Board is greatly strengthened through
the adding to its special councils all of the Provincial OfiS-
cers of the country.

THE RED SIGNAL

By GRACE LIVINGSTON HILL LUTZ

Frontispiece in Color by Edmund Frederick. Net, $1.35

Adventure and high romance came back with the Great War.
But Hilda Lessing proves that the heroic spirit was not alone dis-
played on the battlefields. Against a background of Teuton plotting
Mrs. Lutz has projected her thrilling plot. Finding herself in a
hotbed of anti- Americanism, Hilda's alert mind and brave spirit
enable her to outwit a band of spies and agents for destruction in
this country. Interwoven with a strikingly new and imusual plot,
upon which hangs the fate of the Nation, is Hilda's forgetfulness of
self and safety, a tender love story, and a deed as original and bold
as any ever recorded.

THE ENCHANTED BARN

By GRACE LIVINGSTON HILL LUTZ

Frontispiece in Color by Edmund Frederick. Net, $1.35

Shirley Hollister, a little stenographer, burdened with poverty
and a dependent family, becomes the center of a drama breath-
taking enough to stir the coolest blood. By the enchantment of
fate, a tangled web of strange adventure draws her into its meshes;
there is an "enchanted bam" where she finds a refuge for her
family; its generous young owner; and a plot involving disaster to
affairs of national importance. How Shirley bore the mighty respon-
sibility for this suddenly thrust upon her, while her own life was
imperiled, and her reward, makes a romance glowing and vivid with
the dreams of youth.

THE FINDING OF JASPER HOLT

By GRACE LIVINGSTON HILL LUTZ

Three Illustrations in Color by E. F. Bayha. Net, $1.35

Charming in its directness and simplicity is this romance, with its
unconventional love story. Exciting scenes are well portrayed,
among them the heroic rescue of the heroine from swirling waters
into which she has been plunged by a railroad wreck. Her rescuer
has a bad name in the town toward which J ean Grayson is journey-
ing, and she has a hard fight to vindicate him despite her own firm
beUef in his uprightness. Jasper's indifference to public opinion is
overcome by his love for Jean, and his rehabilitation is accomplished
in a thrilling manner. There is a delightful tone of old-time cldvalry.

J. B. LIPPmCOTT COMPANY, PubUshers, Philadelphia

THE BEST MAN

By GRACE LIVINGSTON HILL LUTZ
Three Dliistration in Color by Gayle Hoskms. Net, $1^5

A romance of startling adventure, in which a secret service employe
on a dangerous mission is overtaken by Fate in the guise of a wedding
party, and the lovely yoimg bride and he are caught up into a veri-
table whirlwind of action. There is a code message which Cyril
Gordon has extracted from under the very noses of desperate plotters
against the government; a chase which passes through the bridal
party in the church, catching up the bride by the way, and speeding
through city, town and country, through amazing tangles and
happenings of many kinds, lands hero and heroine in safety and
happiness in the breathless climax. "A pure foimtain of delight." —
New York Watchman-Examiner,

THE OBSESSION OF
VICTORIA GRACEN

By GRACE LIVINGSTON HILL LUTZ
Three Illustrations in Color by Edwin F. Bayha. Net, $135

Victoria Gracen, gently bred, and sheltered from contact with
the seamy side of life, finds herself sole guardian to her nephew, a
boy of sixteen, spoiled by his ilHterate mother; a jewel very much
in the rough, indeed. How this dainty lady, with conscience as
her guide, finds her way to poor Dick's heart and to that of his
graceless friends, and what her growing love for them helps her to
accomplish, makes a story full to the brim of human interest, pathos
as well as humor. They are very real boys, such as one meets sX
every hand, and the reader will enjoy every word of their story.
It is a transcript from the author's own experience.

LO, MICHAEL!

By GRACE LIVINGSTON HILL LUTZ
Three Illustrations in Color by Gayle Hoskins. Net, $lc35

The story of Michael, bom in a New York slum, and of his rise
through pluck and good fortune, until he "makes good," not only
in his own person and fortunes, but as a guide to those handicapped
as he had been, is a fresh and sweet story, permeated with charming
chivalry and pure romance. The simplicity and strength of purpose
revealed in Michael, his brotherly love, charity and understanding
for the people to whom he devotes his best efforts, the loveliness erf
his romance — these things take hold of the heart strings, and make
a most absorbing human chronicle.

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY, Publishers, Philadelphia

MARCIA SCHUYLER

By GRACE LIVINGSTON HILL LUTZ

Ffontispiece in Color by Anna Whelan Betts and Six Illustrations
from Paintings by E. L. Henry, N.A. With medallion. Net, $135

A romance that breathes the delicious fragrance of old lavender,
this quaint story of stage coach days is filled with tenderness and
poetry. The heroine, Marcia Schuyler, is one of the most lovable
heroines that ever moved through the pages of a book. Desirable
and every way appealing is the vivid portrayal of her history — of
her romance that began at the altar, of all the staid and yet pictur-
esque society in which she moved, and interwoven with the charming
climax of her happiness, the wonderful invention of the steam rail-
road. The beautiful illustrations are in keeping with the charm of
the tale.

PHCEBE DEANE

By GRACE LIVINGSTON HILL LUTZ

Frontispiece in Color and Five Illustrations by E. L. Henry, N.A.
Net, $1.35

Phoebe Deane is a bright, flower-like girl, whose home is an
unhappy one, and whose romance is almost marred by her selfish
half-brother and sister-in-law, with whom she makes her home.
The scene of the story is that of " Marcia Schuyler," and some of the
characters of that story reappear. The weaving of the tale is full
of character, the serving maid, red haired Miranda, is delightfully
amusing, and she plays a leading part in bringing about the dramatic
climax of the love story. These further chapters from the archives
of this quaint old coimtry village make fascinating reading.

MIRANDA

By GRACE LIVINGSTON HILL LUTZ

Frontispiece in Color and Four Illustrations by E. L. Henry, N.A.
Net, $1.35

One of the most attractive girls, and one of the most human,
in fiction is the heroine of "Miranda," a thoroughly wholesome,
optimistic, and humorous maid, whose story is a prose epic of the
early forties, of the simple social fabric of the time, and of the
adventurous romance of western exploration and settlement. She
is born and brought up in the same environment as " Phoebe Deane,"
and plays a part in that story. But her own romance is engrossing
in its interest. It was a time of change in the nation, a time of rapid
growth and development, and there is a historical value in this
delightful picturing of its people.

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY, Publishers, Philadelphia

THE MYSTERY OF MARY

By GRACE LIVINGSTON HILL LUTZ

Frontispiece in Color by Anna W. Speakman. Net, $1.00

There is an enticingness about the mystery of Mary, who appears
suddenly from nowhere, and appeals to the chivalry of Tryon
Dunham. He does not know one bit more about her than the
reader, but she is young and beautiful, and her manners are refined.
He takes her with him on his evening's engagements, and a startling
series of developments ensue. Then, when she is safely off on her
way to Chicago, and he has time to think it over, he finds from the
paper that there are three Marys who have disappeared, a thief, a
lunatic, an heiress. Which of these is his Mary? The solution of
the mystery is enthralling — and delightful.

DAWN OF THE MORNING

By GRACE LIVINGSTON HILL LUTZ

Three Illustrations in Color by Anna Whelan Betts. Net, $1.35

All the stories by Mrs. Lutz are charming; they smell of dried
rose leaves, lavender and clean things. Their heroines are girls who
are still modest and sweet, however circumstances try and confound
them. And of them all, there is no more womanly and lovable a
maid than fair Dawn Van Rensselaer, who has as thrilling an experi-
ence as could come to a pretty maid. Her independent spirit leads
her to solve her difficulties in her own way — a way that leads her
through many trials, but into a haven of happiness at the end. There
is a crescendo of interest to the very end.

THE SOUL OF ANN RUTLEDGE

ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S ROMANCE
By BERNIE BABCOCK

Frontispiece in Color by Gayle Hoskins. Net, $1.50

In this exquisite portrayal of the early romance of Abraham
Lincoln and the beautiful Ann Rutledge, Mrs. Babcock has treated
with rare skill the story of the greatest American. Lincoln as he
was in his youth, in his first flower of enthusiasm, his struggle for
an education, his moral and religious development, and his capacity
for true and devoted love, will add warmth to that devotion all
Americans cherish for his selfless character. His early romance was
as pure and beautiful as its object, lovely Ann, whose early death
broke the spell, and left a lasting impress upon Lincoln's life.

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY, Publishers, Philadelphia

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